ibrar;p  of  ^he  t:heolo0ical  ^^minavy 

PRINCETON  •  NEW  JERSEY 


Gift  of  Thomas  C*  Davles 

V  2087  .F37  1911 

enn,  Courtenay  H.  1866- 

ith  you  always 


»itf)  §ou  m\s}m 


A  SEQUEL  TO 
"OVER  AGAINST  THE  TREASURY' 


BY 

COURTENAY  H.  FENN,  D.  D. 

MISSIONARY   OF   THE   PRESBYTERIAN   BOARD,    PEKING, 
CHINA 


La^mm'fif  ^ismnnt^  ^pobement 

I    MADISON   AVENUE 
NEW   YORK 


Copyright,  iqii,  by 

The   Trustees   of  The   Presbyterian   Board    of 

Publication  and  Sabbath  School  Work 


Printed  October,  191 1 


FOREWORD 

THIS  little  book  is  a  sequel  to  "Over  Against 
the  Treasury,"  but  is  by  no  means  a  mere 
postscript.    The  unexpectedly  kind  recep- 
tion of  the  former  book  is  the  chief  reason  for  the 
preparation  of  this  volume.     Not  a  few  friends 
have  suggested  the  expansion  of  the  thought;  and 
so  varied  have  been  the  phases  of  the  great  prob- 
lem presented  to  the  author's  attention,  first  dur- 
ing his  experience  as  a  traveling  secretary  of  the 
Student  Volunteer  Movement,  and  recently  dur- 
ing his  ''active  furlough"  of  visitation  of  churches, 
presbyterial  campaigns  and  the  follow-up  work 
of  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Movement,  that  he 
has  felt  constrained  to  utilize  still  further  that 
furlough  in  continuing  the  story  of  the  West- 
minster Church  in  Jaconsett.     Let  the  brevity 
of  the  forerunner  be  the  apology  for  the  sequel. 
"After  the  Convention  comes  the  Campaign": 
the  former  booklet  was  but  the  Convention;  this 
is  the  Campaign. 

To  some  the  developments  in  the  Jaconsett 
church  may  seem  so  idealistic  as  to  give  the  story 
somewhat  of  the  nature  of  a  fairy  tale.  Is  it  not 
rather  a  practical  suggestion  as  to  the  realization 
of  an  ideal  which  we  may  never  dare  to  call 
impracticable  because  set  for  every  follower  of 
Christ  by  the  Master  himself?  It  is  confidently 
3 


WITH    YOU    ALWA  Y  S 


believed  that  there  is  nothing  here  which  may 
not  be  realized  in  any  church,  nothing  which  will 
not  be  reaUzed  in  many  a  church  which  adopts 
in  all  sincerity  the  policy  herein  set  forth,  and 
appropriates  to  itself  the  promise  of  the  Living 
Presence  of  the  Master.  The  church  has  failed 
to  obey  the  ''Go"  of  the  Great  Commission 
largely  because  it  has  failed  to  perceive  the 
''Come"  hidden  there  in  the  "Lo,  I  am  with  you 
always,"  of  Him  to  whom  is  given  all  authority  in 
heaven  and  in  earth. 

It  will  be  noted  that  seven  of  the  ten  chapters 
correspond  to  the  "Seven  Characteristic  Features 
of  the  Standard  Missionary  Church,"  so  con- 
stantly emphasized  by  the  Laymen's  Missionary 
Movement.  To  these  seven  the  author  has,  in 
his  own  work,  added  three  others,  namely, 

A  Missionary  Session, 

A  Parish  Abroad, 

Definite  Prayer  and  Effort  to  Secure  Vol- 
unteers. 
This  sevenfold,  or  tenfold,  programme  is  com- 
mending itself  to  thousands  of  churches  as  so 
thoroughly  scriptural  as  to  be  worthy  of  the  title, 
"  The  World  Programme  of  God  for  His  Church." 
As  yet  no  church  has  been  discovered  in  which 
its  inauguration  has  not  brought  about,  as  never 
before,  the  fulfillment  of  the  promises  of  God. 
The  author  is  returning  to  his  labors  in  that  land 
of  phenomenal  development,  the  great  empire  of 
China,  with  a  faith  greatly  strengthened  by  the 


WITH    YOU   ALWA  YS 


assurance  that  the  church  in  America  is  at  last 
awakening  to  the  realization  that,  in  the  beginning 
of  the  gospel  and  ever  since,  the  promise  of  the 
Living  Presence  is  only  for  those  who  accept 
the  life  programme  of  the  great  commission. 


f 


Auburn,  New   York 

August,    IQII 


INTRODUCTORY  CHAPTER 

FOR  THOSE  WHO  HAVE  NOT  READ  "OVER 
AGAINST  THE  TREASURY" 

THE  Reverend  John  Stanton,  the  young  pas- 
tor of  Westminster  Church  of  Jaconsett, 
struggHng  in  preparation  for  ''Foreign  Mis- 
sion Sunday,"  slumbers  at  his  desk  and  dreams. 
He  sees  Jesus  ^dsibly  in  his  pulpit,  but  declining 
to  speak  to  the  people  otherwise  than  through 
the  minister.     Mr.  Stanton,  greatly  embarrassed, 
stumbles  sadly  through  the  service,  breaks  down  in 
prayer  for  forgiveness  for  his  own  lack  of  devotion 
rather  than  that  of  his  people;  and  then,  instead 
of  preaching  the  prepared  sermon,  confesses  his 
own  recreancy  to  an  early  call  to  mission  service, 
and  pleads  with  his  church  to  cease  making  a  play- 
thing of  the  church's  chief  business,  the  evangeli- 
zation of  the  world.     Then  the  Lord  again  sits 
"over  against  the  treasury,"  as  his  people  open 
their  hearts  and  purses  under  an  entirely  new 
sense  of  the  greatness  of  the  work,  its  urgency, 
and  their  personal  responsibility  for  it.     Speech- 
less, amazed  by  the  strange  scene,  the  pastor  is 
suddenly  awakened  by  his  wife's  voice,  announc- 
ing the  passage  of  midnight. 

Profoundly  moved  by  the  dream,  he  feels  im- 
pelled to  relate  it  to  his  people  the  next  day,  as 
his  Foreign  Mission  sermon,  and  then  asks  them 
7 


WITH    YOU   ALWA  Y  S 


to  come  again  in  the  evening  prepared  to  place 
their  gifts  in  the  treasury  under  the  influence  of 
the  conviction  that  Jesus  Christ  sits  just  as  really 
"over  against  the  treasury"  as  though  seen  \nth 
the  eyes  of  the  flesh. 

A  large  company  gathers  that  evening,  many 
moved  by  deep  feeling,  some  by  curiosity,  while  a 
few  resolutely  remain  away.  After  prayer  and  a 
brief  statement  of  the  special  nature  of  the  service, 
all  are  invited  to  deposit  their  gifts,  and  to  relate 
any  helpful  experiences  and  resolutions.  Mr. 
Stanton  sets  the  example  by  offering  himself  for 
foreign  mission  appointment,  as  he  had  failed  to 
do  at  the  beginning  of  his  ministry.  The  senior 
elder,  Mr.  Stanhope,  ha\dng  seen  for  himself  the 
Christ,  confesses  himself  an  unprofitable  servant 
and  promises  "restitution"  and  the  support  of 
Mr.  Stanton  on  the  foreign  field,  while  expressing 
regret  that  none  of  his  own  children  have  been 
trained  for  the  ser\dce. 

Elder  Preston,  wiry,  nervous,  close,  not  so 
wealthy,  sees  for  the  first  time  the  real  size  of  the 
two  dollars  a  year  which  he  has  been  giving  as  his 
share  in  the  conversion  of  the  world.  It  had 
formerly  looked  Hke  two  hundred  dollars,  but 
now  looks  Hke  ''thirty  cents."  He  promises 
one  thousand  dollars  a  year. 

Elder  Austin,  whom  the  pastor  had  seen  in  his 
dream,  a  disbeliever  in  foreign  missions,  has  had 
his  eyes  opened  to  the  suicidal  selfishness  of  his 
policy.     He  has  done  large  things  in  the  past  for 


WITH    YOU    ALWA  YS 


his  alma  mater  and  his  own  city,  but  is  now 
impressed  with  the  need  of  the  world  and  with 
the  pitiful  penuriousness  of  the  church's  present 
provision.  Convinced  that  the  King's  business  is 
not  conducted  on  business  principles,  he  proposes 
henceforth  to  spend  in  that  business  at  least  as 
much  as  on  self  and  family.  To  pay  some  back 
debts,  he  will  endow  a  theological  seminary  in 
China  with  one  hundred  thousand  dollars. 

Elder  Wentworth,  seedy  but  neat,  quiet, 
spiritual,  unselfish,  beams  with  delight  as  he 
expresses  his  thanksgiving  for  the  new  spirit 
which  has  come  to  the  church,  and,  for  the  first 
time,  envies  his  brethren  who  "can  take  from 
their  pockets  a  missionary  or  a  theological  sem- 
inary for  the  heathen"  at  will.  He  and  his  wife 
plan  to  get  along  without  some  new  clothes  and 
increase  their  gifts. 

Elder  Ogden,  a  successful  lawyer,  a  leader 
socially  and  in  the  Sunday  school,  clean  but 
unspiritual,  confesses  his  unw^orthiness  to  be  an 
elder,  and  tells  how  he  was  coaxed  and  flattered 
by  friends  to  abandon  his  intention  to  study  for 
the  ministry  and  to  study  law  instead.  Personal 
ambition  had  overcome  the  constraint  of  the  love 
of  Christ,  but  now  he  is  ready  for  any  call. 

Mrs.  Stanton  follows  the  elders  with  the  admis- 
sion that  she  had  dissuaded  her  husband  from  his 
missionary  purpose  because  her  parents,  for  senti- 
mental reasons  only,  were  opposed  to  her  going. 
Arguing    for    greater    conscientiousness    in    this 


10  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

matter,  on  the  part  of  parents  as  well  as  young 
people,  she  expresses  her  glad  readiness  to  go  ^^ith 
her  husband  wherever  the  Lord  may  call  him. 

Deacon  Ransom,  rough  and  ready,  makes  good 
use  of  his  prototype.  Deacon  Philip,  who  "served 
a  dish  of  gospel  with  every  sandwich,  and  put  in 
all  his  time  between  meals  doing  the  evangeHstic 
jobs  that  the  apostles  didn't  get  round  to,"  and 
who  consequently  became  a  missionary  to  Samaria 
and  even  to  Africa,  through  the  Ethiopian  eunuch, 
because  "he  felt  that  if  the  deacons  didn't  turn 
foreign  missionaries,  there  was  a  great  lot  of 
people  who  were  going  to  die  in  their  sins." 
And  "Deacon  Philip"  Ransom  makes  himself 
responsible  for  at  least  one  apostle  to  the  heathen. 

The  son  of  Elder  Austin,  also  seen  in  the  pastor's 
dream,  rises  in  much  agitation,  admits  that  he 
had  failed  to  see  himself  in  the  vision,  as  reported, 
because  he  had  no  use  for  dreams;  but  he  has  now 
realized  that  Christ  has  not  occupied  the  first 
place  in  his  life.  He  is  ashamed  of  the  fact  that 
most  of  the  missionaries  are  children  of  the  com- 
paratively poor,  the  rich  as  a  rule  rather  despis- 
ing the  work.  Renouncing  this  snobbishness  for 
himself,  he  will  go  as  a  missionary  to  teach  the 
heathen  a  higher,  purer,  better  law  than  any  to 
be  found  on  our  statute  books,  and  at  his  own 
charges. 

Further  reports  are  deferred  until  Wednesday 
evening,  and  the  meeting  closes  with  the  dropping 
of  the  offerings  of  all  in  the  treasury. 


WITH    YOU    ALWA  Y  S  11 

On  Wednesday  evening  the  church  is  crowded, 
and  again  opportunity  is  given  for  expression  of 
heart  experience. 

Mr.  Ralph  Jackson,  a  business  man  with  a  bur- 
den both  of  regret  and  of  joy,  formerly  a  chronic 
objector,  has,  in  the  vision  of  Christ  present,  seen 
all  his  old  objections  punctured,  and  proceeds 
to  puncture  several  for  the  congregation, — 
"It  takes  ninety-nine  cents  to  send  one  cent  to 
the  heathen";  "The  church  and  country  cannot 
afford  such  a  waste  of  funds";  "If  you  send  so 
many  men  abroad  there  won't  be  preachers 
enough  at  home  " ;  "The  task  is  hopeless";  "You 
can't  make  a  good  Christian  out  of  a  pagan." 
He  manifests  his  conversion  by  giving  two 
hundred  times  as  much  as  ever  before. 

Mr.  James  Waterson,  another  objector,  has 
just  taken  a  tour  round  the  world  and  lost  his 
objections,  especially  his  two  criticisms  of  the 
boards,  the  one  for  supporting  the  missionaries 
in  too  comfortable  a  style,  the  other  for  exercising 
too  little  faith  in  plans  and  work.  He  has  found 
it  impossible  and  unwise  for  the  missionary  to 
live  Uke  the  native;  and  has  seen  the  absurdity 
of  "thinking  that,  because  a  man  gives  up  nearly 
everything  in  this  life  to  go  as  a  missionary,  he 
should  therefore  be  either  required  or  expected 
to  give  up  everything  else  when  he  gets  there, 
while  the  man  who  stays  in  America  is,  by  that 
fact,  excused  from  giving  up  anything."  He  still 
believes  in  faith,  "but  not  in  the  faith  which 


12  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

divorces  itself  from  sound  judgment  and  tempts 
the  Lord  by  going  ahead  of  him." 

A  son  of  the  church,  a  senior  in  the  theological 
seminary,  has  been  making  many  excuses,  chief 
among  them  ''the  lack  of  a  special  call."  Much 
impressed  by  a  parable  seen  in  a  recent  paper, 
entitled  "As  It  Was  Not  in  the  Days  of  Jesus 
Christ,"  representing  the  folly  of  the  disciples, 
at  the  feeding  of  the  five  thousand,  had  they 
first  packed  baskets  for  themselves  and  then 
confined  their  ministrations  to  five  hundred  old 
neighbors  "for  lack  of  a  special  call"  to  others, 
he  proposes  to  use  his  "sanctified  common  sense," 
and,  being  free,  to  go  to  answer  "the  special  call" 
of  the  greatest  need. 

Another  student  of  the  same  seminary,  "acci- 
dentally" present,  has  been  making  a  hobby  of 
"ethnic  religions,"  and  has  seen  no  need  of  re- 
placing them  with  Christianity.  But  a  recent 
address  on  "The  Non-Christian  Religions  Inade- 
quate to  Meet  the  Needs  of  Men"  has  shown  him 
the  shallowness  of  his  former  contentions;  and, 
without  dream  or  vision,  Christ  has  become  real 
to  him,  and  he  will  no  longer  deny  the  lamp  of 
life  to  the  benighted. 

The  president  of  a  large  manufacturing  concern 
declares  that  he  has  found  himself  robbing  God. 
He  has  torn  down  the  old  house, — a  good  one, — 
and  built  greater,  and  spared  no  money  in  its 
furnishing,  simply  for  his  wife  and  himself. 
Then  his  wife  was  taken  ill  and  died,  and  his 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  13 


house  was  left  unto  him  desolate.  Now,  realizing 
that  ''a  man's  life  consisteth  not  in  the  abundance 
of  the  things  which  he  possesseth,"  he  will  sell 
the  house  and  use  the  proceeds  for  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world. 

A  young*  business  man  who  has  been  interested 
in  the  new  "Men's  Movement"  has  admired  the 
enthusiasm,  the  proposed  "business  principles  in 
missions,"  the  large  sums  to  be  raised;  but  is 
troubled  by  the  fact  that  the  missions  are  still 
unsupplied  with  the  needed  funds,  and  urges  the 
call  for  something  more  manly  than  a  mere 
childish  "interest,"  even  "passion,"  the  passion 
of  the  Master  himself. 

The  whole  company  is  thrilled  by  the  confession 
of  a  well-known  society  woman,  who  has  been 
overwhelmed  by  the  thought  of  the  number  of 
missionaries  and  native  preachers  and  teachers 
that  she  and  her  friends  have  "eaten  and  drunk 
and  worn,  or  kept  locked  up  in  safe-deposit 
vaults."  Her  first  duty  will  be  to  release  some 
of  her  own,  under  the  influence  of  the  new  vision 
of  the  Master. 

Finally  the  doctors  are  heard  from.  Dr. 
Corson,  energetic,  successful,  yet  ashamed  to 
think  of  the  long  rows  of  doctors'  signs  in  Jacon- 
sett,  when  distant  peoples  are  living  in  misery 
and  dying  in  agony  for  the  lack  of  a  doctor,  or 
through  the  use  of  the  deadly  prescription  of  a 
doctor  falsely  so  called,  will  give  up  his  practice 
and  go  to  China  at  his  own  charges.     Two  others, 


14  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 


intimate  friends  of  his,  declare  the  same  inten- 
tion. 

The  service  closes;  the  King's  business  has 
become  the  supreme  thing  in  the  Jaconsett 
church. 


CHAPTER  I 

A   MISSIONARY   PASTOR 

A  FTER  that  wonderful  week,  when,  as  never 
J\  before,  most    of    the    members  of   West- 
minster  Church,    Jaconsett,   had  reaUzed 
the  presence  of  their  Lord,  not  only  sitting  "over 
against  the  treasury"  as  they  offered  their  gifts, 
but  associated  in  closest  fellowship  with  them  in 
every  interest  of  Ufe,  their  pastor,  the  Reverend 
John  Stanton,  his  heart  full  of  a  joy  which  made 
radiant  his  face,  hastened  to  fulfill  his  own  prom- 
ise.    Not  for  a  moment  would  he  allow  the  won- 
derful developments  in  his  congregation  so  to 
engross  him  as  even  to  postpone  that  offering  of 
the  life  service  of  his  wife  and  himself  which  had 
come  to  mean  to  them  not  merely  restitution 
for  an  early  dereHction,  but  also  an  opportunity 
and  privilege,  the  greatness  of  which  they  had 
previously  failed  to  comprehend.     It  was  now  a 
fear,  rather  than  a  hope,  that  their  forty  years 
of  age,  with  the  consequent  decreased  facility  in 
linguistic    acquisition,    might    prove    an    insur- 
mountable   obstacle    to    their    appointment    as 
foreign  missionaries;  and  in  his  appUcation  to  the 
Board  Mr.  Stanton  urged  as  an  offset  the  recent 
spiritual  experiences,  which  he  felt,  with  great 
reason,  had  given  them  an  even  more  valuable 
equipment  for  missionary  work.     Compelled  to 
15 


16  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


wait  some  time  for  the  decision  of  the  Board,  and 
realizing  the  necessity  for  crystallizing  impres- 
sions, he  set  himself  to  the  pleasant  task  of  conserv- 
ing that  which  had  already  been  accompUshed  in 
the  church.  The  presence  of  his  Master  and 
Friend  had  become  so  real  to  him  that  each  day 
found  him  more  fully  entering  into  the  experience 
of  Paul,  to  whom  to  live  was  Christ,  and  whatever 
he  believed  the  Christ  living  in  John  Stanton 
would  do,  that  he  did.  He  could  not  be  content 
to  leave  Jaconsett  while  yet  one  single  member 
of  the  body  of  Christ  under  his  pastoral  care  was 
without  interest  in  the  mission  of  Christ  and  the 
church,  the  taking  of  the  gospel  of  salvation  to  the 
unevangelized.  Certain  members  of  the  church 
had  been  absent  from  town  on  those  memorable 
days;  and  Mr.  Stanton  learned  that  some  had 
heard  with  rather  scornful  wonder  of  the  man- 
ner in  which  Westminster  Church,  famous  for 
conservatism  and  decorum,  had  been  carried  off 
its  feet  by  a  dream,  and  become  the  talk  of  the 
town.  A  few  also  of  those  present  at  one  or  more 
of  the  services  seemed  quite  unmoved,  had  ab- 
sented themselves  from  later  meetings,  or,  attend- 
ing, had  seen  no  \ision  of  the  Master,  heard 
no  constraining  appeal  from  the  Son  of  God 
to  follow  in  his  train.  These  various  persons, 
feeling  that  they  no  longer  had  a  pastor  who  was 
either  safe  or  sane,  were  inchned  to  think  that  it 
might  be  just  as  well  if  their  Mr.  Stanton  should 
carr}^  his  \-i5ionary  enthusiasm  to  heathen  lands, 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  17 

and  permit  the  church  in  Jaconsett  to  sober  down 
into  the  good  old  ways.  iVmong  this  dissatisfied 
minority  were  two  of  the  Board  of  Trustees,  both 
members  of  the  church,  Mr.  James  Harden  and 
Dr.  Hartley  Sears.  Mr.  Harden  was  president 
of  the  Harden  Trust  Company,  and  Dr.  Sears  a 
leading  physician.  One  of  the  deacons  also,  Mr. 
Henry  Thorne,  who  had  been  absent  in  a  distant 
city,  on  returning  to  Jaconsett  the  week  following 
the  last  of  the  three  meetings,  ha\ing  heard  noth- 
ing of  what  had  been  going  on,  dropped  in  at  the 
office  of  his  close  friend,  Mr.  Harden,  and  found 
Dr.  Sears  there  in  animated  conversation  with 
the  banker. 

"Hello,  Thorne,  where  did  you  drop  from?" 
was  the  greeting  with  which  he  was  saluted  by 
Dr.  Sears  as  he  entered  the  door.  "Our  dominie 
needs  you  here  to  steady  him.  He's  taken  to 
seeing  visions  and  dreaming  dreams  since  you've 
been  gone,  and  the  mischief's  to  pay.  There's 
no  more  hope  for  that  new  organ  and  paid  choir 
on  which  you've  set  your  heart  so  long;  and  as 
to  the  men's  clubhouse,  that's  knocked  into  a 
cocked  hat.  The  heathen  have  come  into  our 
inheritance  and  walked  off  with  mighty  near 
one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars  inside  of 
ten  days.     What  do  you  think  of  that  for  news?" 

"Do  talk  a  httle  plain  English,  doctor,  and  give 
a  man  a  faint  idea  of  what's  happened,"  rephed 
Deacon  Thorne,  as  he  removed  his  coat  and  hat, 
and  settled  himself  in  an  easy-chair.     "I  have 


18  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

just  got  in  from  a  western  trip,  and  I  haven't 
heard  a  word.  What's  happened  to  the  dominie? 
And  what's  all  this  about  the  heathen?" 

''Why,  a  week  ago  Sunday,  you  know,  was 
Foreign  Mission  Sunday  in  the  church.  Mr. 
Stanton  came  into  the  pulpit  looking  very  strange; 
and  all  he  gave  us  for  a  sermon  was  the  story  of  a 
dream  he'd  had  the  night  before,  in  which  he 
thought  he  saw  Jesus  Christ  with  him  in  the 
pulpit  to  hear  him  preach  his  Foreign  Mission 
sermon;  and  it  scared  him  so  that  he  could  hardly 
say  a  word,  but  just  beg  to  be  forgiven  for  being 
unfaithful,  and  then  urge  the  congregation  to 
give  more  than  they  ever  did  before.  And,  in  his 
dream,  Jesus  went  and  sat  by  the  treasury;  and 
some  of  the  congregation  were  all  broken  up,  and 
there  was  quite  a  scene.  You  know  the  parson  is 
rather  dramatic  in  his  preaching,  and  he  just  laid 
himself  out  on  this  as  he  told  it  until,  lo  and 
behold,  all  our  elders  and  some  of  your  brother 
deacons,  and  a  lot  of  other  folks,  got  hysterical 
and  planked  down  the  cash  by  the  thousand. 
You'd  scarcely  have  believed  your  eyes  and  ears, 
if  you  could  have  seen  and  heard  Elder  Stanhope 
and  Elder  Preston  going  on  about  the  sins  of  the 
past,  and  the  better  things  they  were  going  to  do 
in  the  future.  It  was  livelier  than  a  camp  meet- 
ing; and  it  didn't  stop  with  one  service,  but  went 
on  Sunday  evening  and  the  next  Wednesday 
evening,  when  the  church  was  packed  to  the  doors, 
and  no  end  of  people  in  from  the  other  churches 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  19 

to  see  the  Presbyterians  get  on  the  mourners' 
bench  and  cough  up  their  savings.  Elder  Austin 
promised  a  cool  one  hundred  thousand  dollars 
to  endow  a  theological  seminary  for  the  heathen 
Chinese,  and  there  were  a  lot  of  doctors  and 
lawyers  and  students  who  said  they  were  going 
to  drop  everything  and  go  as  missionaries.  And 
our  minister's  going,  if  the  Board'll  have  him. 
I  tell  you  there  have  been  great  doings  these  last 
ten  days.  Hard  luck  that  you've  missed  it  all. 
But  there'll  be  more  doing  yet,  and  you'll  have  a 
chance  to  sign  away  your  estate  as  well  as  the 
rest." 

"Well,  well,  well!"  said  the  deacon.  ''Who 
would  have  though  that  such  an  earthquake 
could  have  struck  Jaconsett  and  the  Westminster 
Church,  too!  Now,  if  it  had  been  the  Methodists, 
it  would  not  have  seemed  so  strange,  for  they  go 
more  on  the  emotions.  But  Elders  Stanhope  and 
Preston !  It  doesn't  seem  possible :  just  plain  takes 
my  breath  away.  And  you  say  Mr.  Stanton  is 
going  to  leave  us?  Well,  I'm  mighty  sorry  to  hear 
that,  for  it  will  not  be  easy  to  find  another  who'll 
do  as  well  all  around.  But  say,  that  dream  of  his 
must  have  taken  a  tremendous  hold  on  him  to 
break  him  up  in  the  pulpit,  and  lead  him  to  do 
anything  undignified.  A  pretty  strong  sense  of 
propriety  has  Mr.  Stanton,  even  if  he  is  a  bit 
dramatic.  Queer  that  he  should  have  such  a 
dream,  wasn't  it?  I  don't  wonder  that  it  made 
him  feel  rather  queer  to  see  Jesus  sitting  there 


20  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

large  as  life.  I  declare  it  would  have  given  me 
the  shakes  and  made  me  think  of  my  sins.  But 
then,  I  don't  believe  a  minister  ought  to  carry  his 
dreams  into  the  pulpit  to  excite  the  women  and 
children.  He  ought  to  confine  himself  to  the 
Bible  and  real  human  experience,  and  keep  his 
dreams  to  himself  and  his  nearest  friends.  I  am 
surprised  that  a  man  with  so  much  good  judgment 
as  our  pastor  should  have  made  this  mistake. 
And  as  to  foreign  missions,  they're  all  right  after 
we've  gotten  our  own  country  converted.  I  don't 
believe  in  offering  to  clean  another  man's  house 
w^hen  my  own  is  full  of  dirt  and  filth,  which  is 
only  another  w^ay  of  saying  what  Jesus  said, 
'Cast  out  first  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye 
and  then  shaft  thou  see  clearly  to  cast  out  the 
mote  out  of  thy  brother's  eye.'  On  this  trip, 
I've  been  seeing  some  slums  that  were  worse  than 
anything  in  China,  I  know.  And  nearly  half  our 
own  city  is  made  up  of  foreigners,  and  scarcely 
anyone  is  doing  anything  for  them.  First  clean 
up  these  places,  say  I,  and  then  we  can  begin  to 
think  about  Africa  and  the  rest  of  them.  And 
then  think  of  the  poor  people  here  at  home,  too. 
Our  deacons'  fund  is  never  half  large  enough  to 
meet  the  real,  desperate  need  right  among  our 
own  people.  There  are  at  least  a  dozen  families 
who,  on  account  of  sickness,  or  lack  of  employ- 
ment, have  to  be  helped  all  the  time." 

''Yes,  and  the  Charity  Organization  and  the 
Salvation  Army,  and  the  Society  for  the  Preven- 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  21 


tion  of  Cruelty  to  Children,  and  the  Eye  and  Ear 
Hospital  and  the  Maternity  Hospital,  and  a 
dozen  other  organizations  here  in  our  own  town, 
are  around  with  their  subscription  papers 
every  few  days,"  said  Mr.  Harden.  "And  the 
Y.  M.  C.  A.  needs  a  new  building,  and  the  church 
parlor  wants  a  new  carpet,  and  the  ancient  Church 
of  Armenia  wants  resuscitating,  and  it's  just  beg, 
beg,  beg,  day  after  day,  week  in  and  week  out, 
until  a  man  feels  that  he  is  no  longer  free  to  do 
what  he  will  with  his  own  and  there's  no  more 
pleasure  in  hfe.  It  would  almost  be  a  relief  not 
to  have  any  money."  Mr.  Harden  had  been 
sitting  Vvith  his  back  to  the  door,  and  had  not 
noticed  its  opening.  Hearing  a  sound,  he  turned 
about  to  behold  their  pastor,  Mr.  Stanton,  to 
whom  the  door  had  been  opened  quietly  by  Dr. 
Sears,  who  rather  mischievously  permitted  the 
minister  to  hear  the  last  sentences  which  Mr. 
Harden  had  spoken.  The  latter  rose  hastily, 
and,  in  some  confusion,  extended  his  hand  to  Mr. 
Stanton,  who  shook  it  heartily  as  he  said: 

"Good  morning,  friends!  This  is  better  luck 
than  I  had  expected.  Every  last  one  of  you  was 
on  my  list  for  this  morning;  but  I  never  dreamed 
of  finding  you  together.  Deacon  Thorne,  I  can- 
not tell  you  how  sorry  I  am  that  you  have  been 
away  from  town  this  last  week  or  so.  You  have 
missed  the  richest  experience  in  all  the  history  of 
Westminster  Church.  You  know  we  have  often 
prayed  that  Christ  might  reveal  himself  to  us, 


22  )VITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

that  we  might  see  him  with  the  eye  of  faith;  and 
he  has  answered  our  prayers  in  a  very  wonderful 
way.  Perhaps  you  have  heard  something  about 
it  since  your  return.  Although  it  began  with  an 
extraordinary  dream  of  mine  on  the  Saturday  eve- 
ning before  Foreign  Mission  Sunday,  yet  I  don't 
believe  that  our  Master  was  any  more  real  to 
me  in  that  dream  than  he  became  next  day  to 
scores  of  the  people  in  our  church,  to  whose  minds 
he  was  just  as  clearly  present,  sitting  over  against 
the  treasury,  as  if  they  had  seen  him  ^ith  their 
eyes  and  heard  his  voice.  And  the  beautiful 
thing  about  it  is  that,  so  far  as  I  can  learn,  he 
remains  a  living  presence  to  every  one  of  those 
who  on  that  day,  or  the  Wednesday  evening 
following,  accepted  the  fact  of  his  presence  as  the 
controlhng  factor  in  their  future  Hves.  The  whole 
spiritual  atmosphere  of  the  church  has  changed; 
every  form  of  Christian  activity  has  taken  on  so 
much  new^  Ufe  that  really  my  only  anxious  concern 
these  days  is  for  the  men  who,  Hke  3^ou,  were 
absent  from  town,  and  the  few  who  saw  no  vision." 
"When  you  came  in,  Dr.  Sears  and  Mr.  Har- 
den were  telling  me  what  has  been  going  on,  Mr. 
Stanton,"  replied  Mr.  Thorne;  "and  I  must  say 
I  was  surprised  to  learn  that  you  had  been  taking 
a  dream  into  the  pulpit.  Of  course,  I  know  that 
so-called  dreams,  hke  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress, 
have  been  used  to  do  great  good;  but  that  was 
only  a  make-believe  dream,  after  all.  You  don't 
beUeve,  do  you,  that  the  dreams  which  come  to 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  23 


US  in  our  sleep  should  guide  us  in  our  waking 
hours,  instead  of  the  sober  judgment  of  the  day?" 
"Thank  you,  Deacon  Thome,  for  that  term 
'sober  judgment,'  for  it  will  help  me  to  answer 
you.  Suppose  a  dream  of  the  night  brings 
strikingly  to  your  attention  a  fact  which  the 
'sober  judgment  of  the  day'  at  once  approves  as 
one  of  the  most  important  facts  in  your  Ufe, 
though  long  overlooked  and  neglected.  Would 
you  spurn  that  fact  simply  because  its  first  sug- 
gestion came  in  the  form  of  a  dream?  Surely  you 
would  not." 

"No,  Mr.  Stanton,  that's  right,  though  I 
hadn't  thought  of  it  before  in  that  way.  In  those 
circumstances,  a  minister  would  certainly  be 
justified  in  mentioning  his  dream  to  his  people. 
But  hov/  do  you  apply  the  test  to  tliis  dream  of 
yours,  of  which  I  have  heard  but  a  little?  Do  you 
think  Jesus  Christ  is  as  really  present  with  us  as 
if  we  could  see  him?" 

"  I  assuredly  do,  and  more  really,"  said  Mr.  Stan- 
ton; "  for  his  visible  presence  would  confine  him  to 
one  place ;  while  his  spiritual  presence,  carrying  the 
whole  of  his  personality  and  wisdom  and  power 
and  love,  may  be  with  every  disciple  of  his  the 
world  around;  and,  what  is  better  still,  not  only 
with,  but  in.  This  is  exactly  what  Paul  meant 
when  he  said,  '  To  me  to  Uve  is  Christ.'  Paul  was 
so  conscious  of  his  absolute  possession  by  Christ 
that  he  knew  no  other  life  than  that  which  Christ 
Hved  in  him.     Theoretically,  I  believed  all  this 


24  WI  TH    YOU    ALWAYS 

long  ago ;  but  it  never  became  real  to  me  until  God, 
in  his  yearning  over  me,  and  over  our  church,  used 
the  unusual  means  of  a  dream  or  vision  of  the  night 
to  awaken  my  'sober  judgment  of  the  day.'  If 
you  had  been  with  us,  Deacon  Thorne,  I  feel  very 
sure  that  your  mind  and  heart  would  have  yielded 
assent  to  the  fact,  and  responded  to  the  compelling 
claim  of  that  fact.  The  only  thing  that  was  done 
by  anyone  on  those  two  great  days  was  to  seek 
voluntarily  to  square  our  lives  with  that  newly 
realized  fact  of  the  living  presence  of  Christ." 

"Well,  Mr.  Stanton,  that  certainly  seems 
logical,  even  if  it  is  rather  unusual;  and  I  don't 
wonder  our  people  were  pretty  well  shaken  up 
by  the  thoughts  of  that  day,  for  they  are  already 
leading  me  to  asking  myself  some  rather  uncom- 
fortable questions.  I  should  have  to  admit  that 
neither  my  living  nor  my  giving  is  just  what  I 
should  want  to  make  it  if  I  could  see  Jesus  with 
me  all  the  time.  For  instance,  I  am  compelled 
to  confess  that  while  I  did  not  go  away  with  that 
in  view,  I  rather  congratulated  myself  on  having 
missed  Foreign  Mission  Sunday,  and  so  not  being 
likely  to  be  called  on  for  a  contribution  for  another 
year!  That  sounds  rather  bad  for  a  deacon, 
doesn't  it?" 

"O  Deacon  Thorne,  you  too  are  seeing  Him 
who  is  invisible,  or  you  never  would  have  owned 
up  to  that!  I  can  safely  leave  you  to  him  for 
further  guidance.  And  now,  Mr.  Harden,  since 
I  have  found  this  unexpectedly  large  audience 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  25 

here,  will  you  excuse  me  for  making  a  text  of  a 
few  words  I  heard  you  say  as  I  entered  the  door? 
I  had  no  idea  that  I  was  overhearing  what  was 
not  intended  for  my  ears;  and  I  rather  think  from 
his  looks  that  our  friend,  Dr.  Sears,  was  the  guilty 
party.    Eh,  Dr.  Sears?' 

*' As  long  as  confessions  are  in  order,  I  am  afraid 
that  I  shall  have  to  admit  that  I  was  malicious 
enough  to  make  no  delay  or  noise  about  your 
admission,  when  I  saw  you  coming  up  the  steps," 
repHed  the  doctor.  "But  Harden  was  not  saying 
anything  worse  than  the  rest  of  us,  merely  using 
a  bit  more  picturesque  language,  that  was  all.  ' 

"Well,  I  don't  wonder  that  you  men  sometimes 
feel  inclined  to  use  'picturesque  language'  about 
the  multiplicity  of  calls  for  benevolence  in  these 
days,  for  I  have  felt  very  much  inclined  that 
way  myself  at  times.  You  know  the  first  man 
appealed  to  by  almost  every  one  of  these  organi- 
zations is  the  Presbyterian  minister,  not  so  much 
for  his  money  as  for  his  name,  for  everybody  has 
learned  that  '  the  Presbyterians  are  God's  fooHsh 
people,'  and  will  give  their  money  to  every 
interdenominational,  or  undenominational,  bene- 
volence under  the  sun,  while  lea\'ing  their  own 
denominational  work  but  half  provided  for.  It 
is  a  pleasure  to  think  that  we  have  a  reputation 
as  a  liberal  people,  and  that  we  have  a  share  in 
so  many  broad,  philanthropic  and  Christian 
efforts,  even  though  so  much  of  our  money  is  given 
to  irresponsible  beggars,  native  and  foreign,  who 


26  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

work  upon  our  feelings,  and  perhaps  come 
recommended  by  some  prominent  man  who  gave 
them  a  dollar  or  his  name — or  perhaps  both — 
to  get  rid  of  them.  But  there  is  all  the  difference 
in  the  world  between  these  outside  applications 
and  the  call  of  the  church  to  its  own  support  and 
to  the  evangehzation  of  the  world.  The  former 
we  may  do,  if  we  have  the  means  and  are  con- 
vinced that  they  are  wise;  the  latter  we  must  do, 
if  we  are  to  win  our  Master's  ^Well  done,  good 
and  faithful  servant.'  But  please  notice  also  a 
marked  difference  between  church  support  and 
world  evangelization.  The  former,  while  it 
includes  a  benevolent  effort,  the  providing  of  a 
house  of  worship  for  strangers,  is  yet  chiefly  an 
honest  paying  for  what  you  get,  the  comfortable 
place  of  worship,  the  music  of  a  trained  choir,  the 
preaching  of  an  educated  minister,  a  thing  which 
is  not  benevolent  at  all.  Even  local  charities 
and  improvements,  while  they  may  be  in  part 
to  help  the  needy,  are  also  in  part  to  improve 
one's  own  surroundings,  and  make  the  community 
more  desirable  for  residence,  more  attractive  for 
business.  The  farther  you  go  from  any  possible 
advantage  to  yourself,  the  nearer  you  get  to  pure 
benevolence.  Missions  to  those  with  whom  we 
are  in  no  personal  relations  are  conducted  solely 
for  Christ's  sake  and  for  humanity's,  and  are  the 
highest  manifestation  of  unselfishness.  Isn't  it 
so,  doctor?  If  you  should  perform  an  operation 
for  a  well-to-do  patient  and   charge  him  five 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  27 

hundred  dollars  for  it,  you  wouldn't  put  that 
operation  down  as  an  exhibition  of  beneficence, 
would  you?  Or  if  you  paid  two  dollars  for  a 
ticket  to  a  lecture  by  Lieutenant  Peary  on  the 
discovery  of  the  North  Pole,  you  would  not 
charge  that  up  as  an  indication  of  your  love  for 
Christ  and  humanity,  would  you?  But  if  you 
performed  a  five-hundred-dollar  operation  for  a 
penniless  Christian,  and  charged  him  nothing 
for  it,  or  for  Christ's  sake  sent  two  dollars  to  a 
struggling  clerk  to  enable  him  to  attend  the  lec- 
ture, you  would  never  hesitate  to  reckon  that  as 
Christian  beneficence.  Missions  are  just  one 
degree  higher  than  that;  they  are  not  merely  the 
seeking  of  the  physical  and  intellectual  advantage 
of  men  who  may  have  no  direct  human  claim 
upon  us,  but  the  exaltation  of  the  spiritual  ad- 
vantage above  all;  the  desire  to  give  them  not 
only  some  of  the  good  that  we  have,  but  the  very 
best,  for  this  life  and  the  life  to  come.  Paul  felt 
himself  a  debtor  to  all  men.  What  is  a  debtor, 
Dr.  Sears?" 

"I  beheve  he  has  been  defined  as  'a  man  who 
has  something  that  belongs  to  some  one  else,'" 
replied  Dr.  Sears,  deeply  interested  in  Mr. 
Stanton's  argument. 

"Exactly;  and  Paul  felt  that  in  the  gospel  of 
salvation  in  Jesus  Christ  he  had  something  which 
belonged  to  all  men;  and  that  that  debt  would 
never  be  paid  until  he  had  given  that  gospel  to 
everyone  whom  he  could  possibly  reach,"  pursued 


28  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

Mr.  Stanton.  "Our  Master,  Jesus  Christ,  con- 
stantly acknowledged  the  same  debt;  and  when 
he  commissioned  his  disciples,  through  all  the 
ages  until  he  should  come,  he  bade  them  consider 
this  their  debt  until  the  gospel  had  been  preached 
to  every  creature,  and  they  had  been  taught  to 
obey  all  things  whatsoever  he  had  commanded 
them.  I  am  amazed  that  I  never  until  recently 
noticed  the  connection  there;  it  is  only  to  those 
who  undertake  this  commission  that  he  gives  the 
promise,  'And,  lo,  I  am  with  you  always,  even 
unto  the  end  of  the  world.'  That  connection  has 
been  finely  expressed  in  a  motto  of  the  Men's 
Missionary  Movement,  'The  resources  of  God 
are  promised  only  to  those  who  adopt  the  pro- 
gramme of  God.' 

"We  sometimes  wonder  why  the  church  ac- 
complishes so  little  here  in  America.  I  know  now 
that  our  weakness  and  inefficiency  are  chiefly 
due  to  the  fact  that,  forgetful  of  the  lessons  of  the 
early  days  of  Christianity,  we  have  stopped  at 
the  first  division  of  God's  programme,  'Ye  shall 
be  my  witnesses  both  in  Jerusalem,'  and  have  not 
even  looked  after  'all  Judaea,'  to  say  nothing  of 
Samaria  and  the  uttermost  part  of  the  earth." 

"Have  you  any  proof  of  that,  Mr.  Stanton?" 
inquired  Mr.  Harden,  somewhat  skeptically. 

"Yes,  indeed,  Mr.  Harden,  and  I  could  furnish 
it  by  the  volume,  if  we  had  the  time  or  patience. 
Just  take  two  instances.  One  is  that  oft-quoted 
one  about  the  Mission  Baptists  and  the  non- 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  29 

Mission  Baptists.  The  denomination  split  on 
the  question  thirty  years  ago.  To-day  the  Mis- 
sion Baptists  are  ten  times  as  numerous  as  they 
were,  while  the  non-Mission  Baptists  stand  just 
where  they  did  thirty  years  ago.  The  other  is  that 
now  famous  church  in  Kansas,  which,  cumbered 
with  a  heavy  debt,  was  just  about  discouraged. 
The  pastor  became  possessed  of  the  conviction 
which  I  have  just  stated,  and  led  his  amazed 
people  in  a  foreign  mission  crusade.  In  a  short 
time  not  only  were  they  supporting  a  missionary 
of  their  own,  but  their  debt  was  paid,  their  church 
im.proved,  the  pastor's  salary  increased,  and  the 
contributions  to  all  the  boards  of  the  church 
greatly  enlarged.  It  is  only  the  fulfillment  of  the 
old  promise  of  blessing  to  those  who  bring  the 
tithes  into  the  storehouse." 

"Speaking  of  tithes,  Mr.  Stanton,"  said  Mr. 
Harden,  "I  hope  you  are  not  going  to  introduce 
that  idea  into  Westminster  Church!  'Ye  are  not 
under  the  law,  but  under  grace ' ;  and  I  hate  to  see 
a  hard  and  fast  rule  forced  on  Christian  people. 
'  God  loveth  a  cheerful  giver ' ;  and  I  don't  believe 
he  cares  very  much  for  what  is  given  grudgingly, 
or  as  a  matter  of  rule." 

"You  and  I  are  not  very  far  apart  there,  Mr. 
Harden,  though  I  think  possibly  we  need  a 
definition  of  terms.  The  tithe  was  the  Old 
Testament  legal  measure  of  the  Jew's  responsi- 
bility for  the  maintenance  of  his  own  religious 
worship  and  of  the  ministers  who  performed  its 


30  W  I  TH    YOU    ALWAYS 

rites  and  taught  its  laws.  The  strictly  beneficent 
work  of  the  Jew^s  and  their  special  expressions  of 
thanksgiving  were  a  matter  of  additional  free-will 
offerings,  which  often  amounted  to  more  than 
another  tithe.  Being  not  under  the  law,  but 
under  grace,  the  Christian's  feeling  of  gratitude 
for  that  grace,  and  its  manifestation  in  a  more 
perfect  law  of  love,  would  naturally  be  greater 
than  that  of  the  Jew;  and,  whatever  he  might  do 
by  tithe  or  otherwise  for  the  maintenance  of  his 
own  opportunities  for  worship,  he  should  certainly 
be  inclined  to  do  more  than  the  Jew  under  the 
law  in  the  way  of  free-will  offerings  for  beneficence. 
The  fact,  however,  that  a  man  will  give  'cheer- 
fully' one  tenth  of  one  per  cent  of  his  income, 
while  he  would  only  give  'grudgingly'  one  tenth 
of  his  income,  would  hardly  limit  his  obligations 
to  the  one  tenth  of  one  per  cent,  would  it,  Mr. 
Harden?  There  is  another  verse  in  very  close 
connection  with  that  one,  w^hich  says  that  'he 
that  soweth  sparingly  shall  reap  also  sparingly.' 
It  is  a  rule  without  exceptions;  and  while  God  is 
not  satisfied  with  the  grudging  gifts,  it  is  his  will 
that  every  child  of  his  shall  so  study  the  pro- 
gramme of  God  as  to  accept  it  as  the  expression 
of  infinite  wisdom  and  love,  when  at  once  the 
carrying  out  of  that  programme  takes  first  place 
in  heart  and  life,  and  not  only  a  tenth,  but  much 
more  in  the  case  of  those  who  have  means,  is 
given  'cheerfully.' 

"We  are  speaking  to  one  another  with  the 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  31 

Utmost  frankness  now,"  continued  Mr.  Stanton, 
"so  I  am  sure  you  will  excuse  me  if  I  refer  to  an- 
other word  which  you  were  saying  when  I  came  in. 
You  spoke  of  being  '  no  longer  free  to  do  what  one 
will  with  one's  own.'  Our  Master  himself  used 
the  expression,  and  in  the  sense  in  which  he  used  it, 
it  conveys  an  important  truth.  Provided  a  man 
does  not  use  what  is  his  own  to  interfere  with  or 
override  the  rights  and  liberties  of  other  men,  he  is 
free  to  do  what  he  will  with  his  own.  But  that  is 
only  one  side  of  the  truth,  for  while  he  is  free,  he 
is  also  responsible.  Responsible  to  whom?  To 
his  Master.  The  Christian  is  a  freeman  only  be- 
cause he  has  heartily  accepted  the  blessed  rule 
of  a  perfect  Master  with  a  perfect  law.  One  is 
our  Master,  even  Christ.  We  are  not  our  own; 
we  are  bought  with  a  price ;  therefore  glorify  God 
with  your  bodies  and  your  spirits,  which  are 
God's.  If  we  are  not  our  own,  how  much  less 
the  wealth  which  we  may  have,  which,  as  his 
servants,  we  hold  merely  in  trust  for  him,  to  be 
used  under  his  direction  for  his  glory!  The 
Christian  is  always  free  to  do  what  he  will  with 
his  own;  but  what  the  Christian  who  realizes  the 
constant  presence  of  Christ  wills  to  do  with  his 
own,  is  neither  more  nor  less  than  what  he  believes 
Christ  would  like  to  have  done  wdth  it. 

"  Pardon  me  if  I  have  spoken  plainly.  The  new 
conditions  have  taken  so  strong  a  hold  on  me 
that  I  long  to  have  every  member  of  the  church 
share  with  me  the  beauty,  the  joy,  the  power  of 


32  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

them.  Now  I  must  not  take  more  of  the  time  of 
busy  men  Hke  yourselves;  but  I  believe  the  day  is 
coming  when  we  shall  all  think  alike  on  this  sub- 
ject, and  it  will  not  stop  with  us.  I  bid  you  all 
good  morning." 

And  Mr.  Stanton  was  about  to  open  the  door, 
when  Dr.  Sears  grasped  his  hand  hastily,  saying: 
"Mr.  Stanton,  that  is  unanswerable;  and  I 
haven't  a  word  to  say,  except  that  I  am  beginning 
to  see  the  vision  too,  and  wonder  w^hy  I  didn't  see 
it  before.  You  will  hear  from  me  again,  after  I 
have  had  time  to  adjust  my  eyes  to  the  light." 

Mr.  Harden  said  nothing  but  "  Good  morning"; 
but  as  soon  as  the  door  had  closed  behind  their 
pastor,  he  turned  about  with  a  dogged,  uncon- 
vinced look  on  his  face,  saying:  "Well,  I  never 
expected  to  see  you  two  men  floored  as  easily 
as  that.  The  parson's  argument  was  plausible 
enough,  but  just  think  w^hat  it  would  lead  to. 
A  man  would  have  to  consider,  every  time  he 
wanted  to  buy  a  cigar,  whether  Christ  would  do 
it  or  not.  It's  perfectly  absurd.  No  one  would 
ever  get  ahead  in  business  or  society  on  that  prin- 
ciple. The  kingdom  of  Christ  is  not  a  thing  of 
meat  and  drink;  doesn't  the  Bible  say  something 
of  that  sort?  I've  given  myself  to  him,  and  I 
don't  see  why  I  should  have  to  give  all  my  money, 
too." 

"Well,  Harden,  you're  certainly  in  your  last 
ditch  when  you'll  say  a  thing  like  that.  That's 
what  I  call  plain  crawling,  if  you'll  pardon  my 


WITH    VOU    ALWAYS  49 


the  treasury,  but  the  abiding  and  blessed  reaUza- 
tion  of  the  presence  of  him  who  sat  over  against 
the  treasury." 

''I  am  a  Uttle  uncertain  who  would  most 
naturally  fall  to  me  for  a  first  attempt,"  said  Mr. 
Austin,  "though  I  think  possibly  it  should  be  my 
own  brother,  Samuel.  I  should  decidedly  prefer 
to  lay  hold  of  some  one  else,  for  my  brother  has 
already  laid  hold  of  me  pretty  vigorously,  in  his 
amazement  that  I  could  be  so  '  carried  away  by  a 
dream,'  as  he  expresses  it,  and  that  I  could  give 
my  consent  to  'Harry's  spoiling  his  career'  by 
becoming  a  foreign  missionary.  I  rather  think  I 
have  as  tough  a  proposition  as  any  of  you;  but 
I'm  not  going  to  flinch.  My  brother  is  a  Christian 
all  right;  but  he's  very  near-sighted,  yet  doesn't 
like  to  put  on  glasses  because  'they're  not 
natural.'" 

"Well,  friends,  thus  far  I  feel  rather  left  out 
of  this  business,  because  of  my  absence  on  those 
eventful  days,"  sighed  Elder  Gilbert,  "but  what 
you  have  told  me,  and  what  I  have  seen  here 
to-night,  are  the  next  best  thing,  and  I  am  ready 
to  join  in  heartily  in  all  the  new  plans.  You  will 
have  to  give  me  the  same  opportunity  that  you 
have  had  to  think  over  the  personal  bearings  of 
these  new  thoughts  and  convictions.  As  you 
know,  I  am  by  no  means  a  rich  man,  but  this 
much  is  certain,  that  heretofore  the  poorest  and 
meanest  thing  about  me  has  been  my  interest  in 
taking  or  sending  to  other  men  that  which  I  had 
4 


50  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

declared  was  the  greatest  thing  in  all  the  world 
to  me.  To  think  that  my  Lord  and  Saviour  gave 
his  life  so  unreservedly,  so  willingly,  for  me! 
Yet  the  farthest  thing  from  my  thought  has  been 
the  idea  of  giving  my  life,  or  even  many  of  its 
fruits,  to  Mm.  I  have  thanked  him  for  what  he 
has  given,  yet  I  have  never  heard  his  instructions, 
'Occupy  till  I  come,'  or  perhaps  I  would  better 
say,  I  have  taken  that  word  'occupy'  in  a  very 
different  sense  from  that  in  which  he  intended  it. 
To  me  it  has  meant  'take  possession  and  use  for 
yourself,'  instead  of  '  take  it  in  trust  and  use  it  for 
me.'  It  is  no  excuse  for  this  to  say  that  nine- 
tenths  of  the  Christians  of  my  acquaintance  have 
been  doing  the  same  thing.  I  ought  to  have 
known  better.  Henceforth,  I  shall  give  at  least  a 
tenth  of  my  income  to  beneficence;  and  I  rather 
think  it  will  be  considerably  more,  especially  in 
view  of  past  delinquencies.  And  what  is  more, 
I  want  to  do  my  full  share  in  opening  the  eyes  of 
other  Christians  to  this  most  vital  truth  which  has 
been  brought  home  to  us,  for  I  do  believe  that  the 
trouble  is  not  so  much  a  deliberate  unwillingness 
to  do  the  will  of  God,  as  it  is  a  sad  failure  to 
comprehend  that  will  through  lack  of  informa- 
tion so  presented  as  to  command  attention.  This 
is  very  largely  the  fault  of  the  officers  of  the 
church,  who,  if  they  only  had  had  the  vision  them- 
selves, would  adopt  far  better  methods  for  educat- 
ing and  inspiring  the  church.  We  have  had  mis- 
sionary societies  in  the  church  for  years;    the 


WITH    YOU    ALWA  Y  S  51 


ladies  have  done  nobly  nearly  all  that  has  been 
done;  the  Christian  Endeavor  Society  and  the 
Sunday  school  have  given  something,  though 
rather  bhndly;  but  our  various  organizations  are 
not  so  coordinated  as  to  be  really  effective.  If 
the  various  departments  of  the  business  house 
with  which  I  am  connected  were  operated  as 
independently  as  the  various  missionary  interests 
of  our  church,  the  stockholders  would  never  see 
any  dividends.  An  idea  has  suggested  itself  to 
me  as  I've  been  sitting  here.  I  believe  that  it  lies 
with  us  to  change  all  this  by  introducing  a  sort  of 
missionary  clearing  house  plan,  a  general  mission- 
ary committee  for  the  whole  church,  appointed 
by  and  responsible  to  the  session  as  the  ecclesias- 
tical governing  board,  yet  representative  of  every 
benevolent  organization  of  the  church.  Suppose 
we  ask  our  pastor  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  session, 
some  evening  this  week  or  next,  to  discuss  such  a 
proposition,  and  also  to  decide  on  any  other  plans 
which  our  Master  may  suggest  to  us  between  now 
and  then.  As  the  clerk  of  the  session,  I  will 
volunteer  to  bring  the  matter  to  Mr.  Stanton's 
attention,  if  such  be  your  wish." 

All  the  other  members  having  heartily  assented 
to  the  proposal,  and  expressed  their  delight  that 
Elder  Gilbert  also  had  come  into  such  cordial 
sympathy  with  them,  Mr.  Gilbert  added:  ''You 
have  all  accepted  a  personal  responsibility  for 
some  one  else  who  has  not  yet  seen  what  we  have 
seen.     I  shall  take,  as  my  special  object  of  effort, 


52  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


.William  Stowell,  the  broker.  Xow  you  needn't 
all  smile  so  incredulously,  as  much  as  to  say,  '  Can 
any  good  thing  come  out  of  Wall  Street?'  I  do 
not  deny  that  I  shall  have  my  hands  full;  and 
I  do  not  pretend  to  any  intimacy  with  the  ways 
even  of  our  local  Wall  Street;  but  I  know  my 
man  pretty  well,  and  am  as  sure  as  can  be  that  he  is 
a  Christian  man.  Where  there's  life  there's  hope, 
for  it  stands  to  reason  that  any  man  who  has 
himself  tasted  of  the  redeeming  love  of  God  in 
Christ  will  desire  to  have  all  the  world  taste  that 
love,  if  the  proposition  is  only  set  before  him  in 
the  right  way.  When  I  came  here  this  evening,  I 
should  no  more  have  thought  of  tr\dng  to  convert 
William  Stowell  to  an  interest  in  missions  than  I 
should  have  thought  of  attacking  the  leopard's 
spots  with  Ivory  Soap,  but  I  do  not  mean  to 
attempt  anything  alone  in  future,  and  that  makes 
all  the  difference." 

Just  at  this  point  there  came  a  tap  on  the  door. 
On  opening  it,  Mr.  Austin  saw  several  of  the 
ladies  arrayed  for  the  street,  and  gently  inquir- 
ing whether  their  respective  husbands  had  any 
intention  of  going  home  that  evening.  The 
gentlemen  looked  at  their  watches  and  exclaimed 
at  the  discovery  that  it  was  already  past  ten 
o'clock. 

"Well,  ladies,  you  \\ill  appreciate  that  this  has 
been  a  momentous  occasion,"  said  Elder  Austin, 
''when  you  learn  that  we  have  organized  a 
'Presbyterian  Elders'  Reform  Club,'  and,  as  the 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  53 

initiatory  rite,  have  with  one  consent  forever 
renounced  the  goddess  'Nicotine.'" 

''Glory,  Hallelujah! "  fervently  ejaculated  Mrs. 
Ogden,  while  all  the  other  ladies  radiantly  added 
"Amen." 

"But  that  was  merely  incidental  and  introduc- 
tory to  the  main  business  of  the  evening," 
continued  their  host.  "Brother  Gilbert  also  has 
seen  the  vision;  and  every  member  of  the  session 
has  selected  a  fellow-member  of  his  acquaintance 
for  whom  to  labor  and  pray  very  specially,  that 
there  may  eventually  be  none  in  our  church  out 
of  sympathy  with  our  new  spirit,  and  failing  to 
share  in  the  blessings  which  have  come  to  us. 
We  have  chosen  Messrs.  Harden,  Seward, 
Weatherby,  Judge  Melrose,  Broker  Stowell  and 
Brother  Samuel  Austin." 

"Why,  how  strange!"  exclaimed  Mrs.  Preston. 
"That  is  just  exactly  what  we  have  been  doing, 
and  our  lists  are  not  very  different,  either.  We 
have  chosen  Mrs.  Harden,  Mrs.  Seward,  Mrs.  Mel- 
rose, Mrs.  Sears,  Mrs.  Walker  and  Miss  Greene. 
We  certainly  must  have  been  moved  by  one  spirit. 
And  we  have  been  doing  something  else,  also. 
Mrs.  Stanhope  suggested  that  now  that  the  men 
of  the  church  were  becoming  so  interested,  there 
ought  not  to  be  the  least  feeling  on  the  part  of  us 
women  that  the  leadership  in  mission  work  was 
being  taken  out  of  our  hands,  or  would  be  if  we 
in  any  way  joined  hands  with  ihe  men  in  this 
work.     We  all  felt  that  the  new^  spirit  which  has 


54  WITH    YOU   ALWAY<} 

come  into  the  church  would  surely  express  itself 
in  the  most  cordial  cooperation  of  every  mission- 
ary agency  in  the  church;  and  we  wondered  if 
we  might  not  take  the  initiative  in  this  matter, 
and  prove  that  these  are  our  sentiments,  by  sug- 
gesting to  the  session  the  formation  of  a  represen- 
tative committee  to  coordinate  all  our  activities." 
"Truly  the  Lord  is  in  this  place!"  exclaimed 
Elder  Wentworth,  ''The  very  last  thing  we  did 
was  to  agree  to  request  Mr.  Stanton  to  call  a 
meeting  of  the  session  for  the  very  purpose  of 
forming  such  a  committee.  We  couldn't  have 
struck  out  much  more  nearly  the  same  path  if 
we'd  had  a  joint  session.  It  just  serves  to  illus- 
trate again  the  blessedness  of  having  the  Great 
Unifier  as  the  personal  companion  of  every  one  of 
us.     'Praise  God  from  whom  all  blessings  flow.'" 


CHAPTER  III 

A    MISSIONARY    COMMITTEE 

ON  the  morning  following  this  interesting 
social  meeting  of  the  elders  and  their  wives 
the  Reverend  John  Stanton  was  called  up 
on  the  telephone,  at  quite  an  early  hour,  and  found 
himself  addressed  by  Mrs.  Stowell,  the  lady  who 
had  so  stirred  the  meeting  of  the  first  Wednesday 
evening  by  her  confession  of  absorption  in  social 
Hfe. 

"Will  it  be  possible  for  me  to  have  a  half  hour 
of  your  time,  some  time  to-day,  Mr.  Stanton?" 
she  asked.  "I  know  that  you  are  very  busy; 
but,  after  what  I  said  in  the  meeting  the  other 
evening,  I  am  sure  that  you  will  regard  my  call 
as  of  some  importance,  and  I  have  tried  to  get 
it  in  early.  Could  you  come  over  here  some  time 
this  afternoon  to  see  me?" 

"Yes,  Mrs.  Stowell,  I  shall  be  very  glad  to 
come.     Will  four  o'clock  suit  your  convenience?" 

"Perfectly,  thank  you.  So  I  shall  expect  you. 
Good-by." 

Mr.  Stanton  had  been  wondering  for  some  days 
what  was  to  be  the  outcome  of  that  strange, 
impassioned  speech  of  the  Wednesday  evening, 
so  that  he  went  to  meet  the  appointment  of  the 
afternoon  with  no  little  curiosity  and  some  trepi- 
dation. Yet,  assured  of  his  Master's  presence, 
55 


56  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

he  felt  that  he  would  be  given  the  right  words 
to  say.  He  soon  found,  however,  that  very  few 
words  on  his  part  were  necessary.  He  was 
greatly  surprised  at  the  changed  appearance  of 
Mrs.  Stowell,  in  whom  formerly  he  had  found 
little  to  attract.  The  change  from  the  self- 
centered  to  the  Christ-centered  life  had,  even 
in  this  short  time,  truly  transfigured  the  always 
handsome  but  formerly  frivolous  face;  and  the 
pastor  was  fairly  startled  at  the  blossoming  out 
of  a  latent  capacity  for  Christian  leadership  and 
sacrifice  which  he  had  never  suspected.  Im- 
pulsive by  disposition,  she  seized  both  his  hands 
in  hers,  and,  looking  frankly  into  his  face,  she 
said: 

"I  thank  you  so  much  for  coming.  I  meant 
to  ask  you  days  ago;  but  until  yesterday  after- 
noon I  was  not  able  to  complete  the  arrange- 
ments which  I  wished  to  make  first.  And  I  am 
rather  glad  that  it  is  so,  for  every  one  of  these 
days  has  brought  me  so  many  new  joys  that 
I  can  make  you  all  the  more  welcome  now, 
and  rejoice  your  heart  with  a  still  better  story 
of  what  God  has  done  for  me.  Some  of  my  old 
friends  have  come  in,  looking  as  if  they  had  come 
to  attend  my  funeral,  or  watch  with  one  of  those 
'horror  thrills'  while  I  sacrificed  my  children  to 
Moloch;  and  I  have  had  to  laugh  at  them,  for 
I  never  in  my  life  felt  less  like  dying,  nor  less  as 
if  I  were  burning  up  my  treasures  or  sacrificing 
my  children.     These  friends  think  that  I  have 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  57 

taken  up  a  new  fad,  one  which  they  do  not 
approve  at  all;  and  they  are  out  of  all  patience 
with  me  because  they  can't  get  me  out  to  their 
bridge  parties  or  the  theater.  But,  I  tell  you, 
Mr.  Stanton,  just  now  at  least,  I  have  something 
which  interests  me  far  more  than  those  things. 
How  it  will  be  after  a  while  I  would  hardly  dare 
to  say;  but  I  have  a  pecuUar  feeling  of  distaste 
for  them.  I  have  seen  so  much  of  the  emptiness 
of  them,  and  their  fearful  waste  of  time  and 
money — to  say  nothing  of  morals — that  I  should 
not  weep  if  I  never  went  again.  Perhaps  I 
shall  feel  that  I  have  to,  some  day,  in  order  to 
try  to  help  some  of  those  friends  to  better  things; 
but,  do  you  know,  Mr.  Stanton,  I've  been  wonder- 
ing whether,  after  all,  you  can  ever  save  your 
friends  from  Sodom  by  staying  with  them  in 
Sodom?  Now,  perhaps  that  is  pretty  strong 
language  to  use  about  those  things  in  which  I 
used  to  find  my  satisfaction;  but  it  wasn't 
the  site  of  Sodom,  nor  the  fertility  of  its  plain, 
nor  the  abundance  of  its  wealth  and  beauty, 
that  made  it  a  byword  forever,  and  made  it 
necessary  for  Lot  to  flee  for  his  life  and  look  not 
behind.  No;  it  was  what  the  men  of  Sodom  were 
living  for  that  made  coming  out  the  only  hope 
of  a  true  man.  And  that  is  just  the  trouble  with 
that  social  world  in  which  I  have  been  living; 
it  is  living  for  self  and  for  this  life  only. 

"But  that  was  not  what  I  started  out  to  tell 
you,"  continued  Mrs.  Stowell;  "it  was  about  the 


58  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

result  of  my  resolution  to  set  free  my  locked-up 
missionaries.  It  will  not  surprise  you  to  learn — 
what  I  wish  I  need  not  report — that  I  have  re- 
ceived no  sympathy  from  my  husband  in  the 
matter.  That  has  been  the  one  sad  element  in 
my  experience.  He  was  not  present  when  I 
spoke  at  the  church;  but  I  felt  it  my  duty  to 
tell  him  at  once  of  my  intention.  He  did  not 
attempt  to  control  my  actions  in  any  way,  be- 
cause my  fortune  is  quite  independent,  an  in- 
heritance from  my  father;  but  he  used  every 
argument  to  dissuade  me,  and  secured  my  prom- 
ise to  do  nothing  until  after  a  month's  delibera- 
tion. My  plans  are  all  made,  however,  and  I  am 
so  sure  of  my  purpose  that  I  think  you  ought  to 
know  what  I  have  in  view.  In  confidence,  as 
my  pastor,  I  want  to  give  you  the  details.  They 
won't  weary  you  too  much,  will  they?" 

"Whatever  you  feel  inclined  to  tell  me,  Mrs. 
Stowell,  will  be  both  a  matter  of  interest  and  of 
sacred  confidence,  I  assure  you." 

''Well,  of  course,  the  surroundings  of  my  home, 
and  the  far  more  than  abundant  clothing  which 
I  now  have,  are  things  for  which  I  am  not  alone 
responsible,  nor  can  I  well  do  anything  but  con- 
tinue to  make  use  of  them.  But  I  have  far  more 
jewelry  than  I  can  ever  possibly  use.  What- 
ever articles  have  been  given  me  by  my  husband 
I  could  not  think  of  disposing  of;  and  the  same 
is  true  of  gifts  from  friends.  But  much  has  been 
handed  down  to  me,  or  purchased  by  myself. 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  59 


Those  heirlooms  which  have  particularly  tender 
or  historical  associations  I  hardly  feel  justified 
in  parting  with.  Now,  just  for  my  gratification, 
Mr.  Stanton,  make  a  guess  as  to  how  much,  in 
the  way  of  precious  stones  and  pearls  and  jewelry, 
I  have  left  after  all  these  classes  are  taken  out!" 
And  she  laughed  with  a  child's  delight. 

"I  fear  I  shall  not  make  a  very  good  guesser 
in  such  a  matter  as  that,"  laughed  back  the  min; 
ister;  "but,  just  to  gratify  you,  I  will  make  a 
big  guess — one  thousand  dollars." 

"Ha,  ha!  I  thought  you  could  do  better  than 
that,  Mr.  Stanton!  Now  don't  faint  when  I 
tell  you  that  those  who  have  appraised  these 
jewels  oft'er  me  eighty  thousand  dollars  in  hard 
cash  for  them.  You  don't  wonder  now  that  I 
needed  a  safe-deposit  box  for  them,  do  you? 
And  there  most  of  them  have  lain  for  years,  not 
even  drawing  interest,  like  the  talent  wrapped 
in  the  napkin.  When  I  decided  to  sell  them,  I 
couldn't  help  thinking  of  that  old  suggestion  made 
to  one  of  the  popes,  with  regard  to  the  silver 
statues  of  the  Twelve  Apostles,  'It  would  be 
much  better  to  melt  them  down  and  send  them 
out,  like  their  Master,  to  preach  the  gospel  and 
do  good.'  That  is  what  my  jewels  are  to  do 
henceforth,  please  God.  As  to  the  income  of 
my  father's  estate,  I  will  only  say  that  it  is  far 
more  than  I  have  ever  been  able  to  spend  in 
legitimate  ways.  As  long  as  my  husband  lives, 
and  is  not  in  sympathy  with  me  in  this  matter, 


60  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

I  have  concluded  that  I  would  better  not  touch 
the  principal,  though  I  would  gladly  do  so.  But 
a  large  share  of  the  income  each  year  I  shall  give 
to  the  benevolent  work  of  the  church,  and  to  what 
I  may  wish  to  do  privately.  I  think  you  may 
safely  count  on  me  for  one  thousand  a  year  for 
foreign  miissions,  and  another  thousand  to  be 
divided  among  the  other  boards  of  the  church. 
As  to  that  eighty  thousand,  I  have  been  thinking 
a  good  deal  of  the  best  use  to  put  it  to.  If  I 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  giving  to  home  missions 
in  the  past,  I  should  give  it  all  to  foreign  missions 
on  account  of  the  immeasurably  great  need;  but 
as  I  have  never  given  anything  worth  mentioning 
to  either,  I  think  I  will  divide,  just  as  I  suggested 
with  regard  to  my  income.  That  will  give  forty 
thousand  to  the  foreign  work;  and  I  should  like 
to  have  it  go  into  some  building,  which  I  can  think 
of  as  my  living  safe-deposit  vaults,  training  the 
native  Christians  for  the  evangelization  of  their 
own  people.  It  doesn't  seem  as  if  any  other  work 
in  the  world  would  do  more  for  the  world.  The 
other  half  I  wish  you  would  divide  among  the 
other  boards  according  to  your  judgment  of  their 
relative  needs.  I  had  no  idea  how  good  it  was 
going  to  feel  to  have  a  part  in  establishing  schools 
and  colleges  and  building  churches  for  other 
people,  and  educating  the  young  men  without 
means,  and  publishing  good  literature,  and  sup- 
porting th-e  ministers  and  pensioning  those  who 
have  worn  themselves  out  in  the  service;    nor 


WITH    VOU   ALWAYS  61 


how  far  a  little  money  would  go  in  these  directions. 
I  never  half  enjoyed  my  money  before.  First 
thing  you  know,  Mr.  Stanton,  you  will  hear  me 
asking  for  some  poor  people  to  visit,  or  some  sick 
people  to  take  riding  in  my  automobile.  I  don't 
think  you  fully  realize  what  an  amount  of  future 
trouble  you  made  for  yourself  by  telling  us  of 
that  dream  of  yours !  But  at  any  rate  it  has  made 
very  happy  one  woman  who  was  suffering  from 
ennui." 

Mr.  Stanton  went  his  way,  marveling  in  his 
heart  over  the  present  power  of  the  realized  Christ. 
He  had  not  reached  his  own  door  before  he  met 
Elder  Gilbert,  whose  enthusiastic  greeting  quite 
took  him  by  surprise,  as  he  had  heard  no  report 
of  the  previous  evening. 

"I  was  just  looking  for  you,  Mr.  Stanton,  to 
tell  you  several  pieces  of  good  news,  and  to  offer 
a  suggestion  from  the  session.  We  were  very 
sorry  that  you  could  not  be  with  us  last  night; 
but  we  had  the  best  time  we  ever  had  together. 
You  know  I  have  been  away  from  home,  so 
have  missed  all  these  wonderful  things.  But  the 
brethren  shared  them  with  me  last  night,  and  I 
too  have  seen  the  vision  and  am  another  man. 
The  whole  thing  started  with  Austin  offering  his 
choice  cigars,  as  he  always  does;  and  I  was  the 
only  man  who  took  one.  Explanations  were  in 
order,  and  Father  Stanhope  and  Ogden  told  us 
about  their  new  conviction  that  their  money  had 
not  been  given  them  to  burn ;  and  before  we  were 


62  W ITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


through  we  all  joined  hands  and  agreed  to  give 
it  up.  Then  I  had  to  learn  all  about  the  new 
spirit  in  the  church,  and  I  got  my  share.  Then 
we  decided  to  pick  a  man  each,  of  those  who  have 
not  come  around,  and  win  him.  Finally  we 
agreed  to  ask  you  to  call  a  meeting  of  the  session 
this  week  or  next,  for  the  appointment  of  a  repre- 
sentative missionary  committee,  to  coordinate 
all  our  benevolent  work.  And  when  we  got 
through  we  found  that  the  ladies  had  been  doing 
almost  the  same  things  in  another  room — except 
the  cigars.  But  any  one  could  see  they  were 
mightily  pleased  with  our  Reform  Club." 

"Well,  Brother  Gilbert,  you  quite  take  my 
breath  away  with  all  these  good  things.  You 
men  have  never  known  how  I  regretted  the  fact 
that  all  but  one  of  my  elders  used  tobacco.  I 
congratulate  both  you  and  the  church  with  all 
my  heart,  as  I  see  that  you  have  indeed  seen  the 
\dsion.  Tell  me  whom  you  have  all  chosen  for 
special  effort,  and  I  will  join  you  in  prayer  for 
them.  As  for  the  session  meeting,  by  all  means 
let  us  have  one  after  the  prayer  meeting  on 
Wednesday  evening.  There  will  be  no  need  for 
a  special  call,  as  every  elder  who  can  attend  the 
prayer  meeting  is  sure  to  be  there." 

Mr.  Gilbert  gave  him  the  names  chosen  by 
the  elders  and  their  wives;  then  each  went  his 
way. 

As  anticipated,  every  elder  was  in  his  place  at 
the  prayer   meeting   the   following  evening.     A 


WITH    VOU    ALWAYS  63 

blind  stranger  would  certainly  have  thought  that 
the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  must  be  visibly  present 
to  those  who  took  part  in  the  meeting;  and  they 
were  many,  old  and  young,  men  and  women, 
each  with  some  grateful  testimony  as  to  recent 
blessing,  or  word  of  simple,  earnest  prayer  for 
fuller  spiritual  attainment.  The  prayer  of  inter- 
cession, definite,  individual,  had  come  in  as  the 
natural  expression  of  the  heart  longing  that  others 
might  share  in  the  blessing.  Elder  Gilbert  told 
of  his  experience;  Dr.  Sears  related  his,  and 
Elder  Austin  created  a  profound  impression  by 
his  story  of  what  had  occurred  at  his  home  on 
the  Monday  evening.  The  hour  was  all  too  short, 
and  the  session  had  to  withdraw  to  another  room 
to  secure  a  quiet  place  for  their  meeting.  The 
pastor  voiced  briefly  their  desire  for  guidance : 

''Thou  Great  Head  of  the  church,  thou  hast 
already  given  us  the  assurance  that  thou  art  with 
us.  As  those  whom  thou  hast  honored  by  making 
us  coworkers  with  thee  and  with  thy  Son  Jesus 
Christ,  we  accept  thy  promise  of  infinite  wisdom 
as  we  plan  together  for  the  interests  of  this  church 
and  of  thy  kingdom  throughout  the  world.  As 
the  governing  body  of  this  church  we  thank  thee 
that  thou  hast  made  us  of  one  heart  and  one 
mind  through  our  new  acquaintance  with  thee. 
If  this  plan  for  the  appointment  of  a  repre- 
sentative missionary  committee  be  of  thee,  make 
thou  for  us  the  selection  of  those  best  fitted  for 
these  responsible  duties,  and  fill  them,  one  and 


64  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


all,  with  thy  spirit  and  with  thy  passion  for  souls. 
In  the  Master's  name,  Amen." 

''Well,  brethren,"  said  the  pastor  to  his  session, 
''I  am  delighted  to  see  that  you  are  ahead  of 
your  pastor  in  planning  for  the  expansion  and 
the  permanence  of  the  w^ork  which  has  been 
begun  among  us.  I  am  altogether  agreed  with 
you  that  w^e  need  to  coordinate  all  our  benevolent 
work,  and  ought  to  provide  some  means  of 
enlisting  every  member  in  the  work  as  a  w^hole; 
and  I  also  beUeve  that  a  committee  representative 
of  organizations  already  in  existence  will  be  much 
better  than  a  new^  organization,  or  than  the  assum- 
ing of  these  responsibilities  by  the  session  itself. 
What  is  your  judgment  as  to  the  manner  in 
which  the  committee  should  be  constituted?" 

"It  seems  to  me,"  said  Elder  Stanhope,  ''that 
our  pastor  ought  to  be  the  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee, in  order  to  insure  regular  meetings  and 
systematic  activity." 

"I  thank  you  for  the  compliment,  Mr.  Stan- 
hope; but,  in  my  opinion,  all  the  other  members 
of  the  committee  would  feel  a  larger  sense  of 
responsibility  and  do  better  work  if  the  pastor 
were  not  the  chairman.  He  might  be  ex  officio 
a  member  of  the  committee,  but  keep  in  the 
background  as  much  as  possible.  Suppose  we 
let  the  committee  select  its  own  chairman.  But 
the  pastor  being  only  ex  officio  a  member,  the 
session,  as  the  chief  benevolent  organization  in 
the  church,  should  be  represented  by  one  of  our 


W  IT  n    YOU    A  LWAYS  33 

frankness.  What  answer  do  you  suppose  our 
old  friend,  Colonel  Dalford,  made  to  a  man  who 
said  that  to  him  one  day?  He  turned  around  on 
him  and  said,  'If  I  were  the  Lord,  I'd  say  to  you, 
"ten  per  cent  off  for  cash".'"  And  leaving  Mr. 
Harden  to  recover  from  the  shock.  Dr.  Sears  and 
Deacon  Thorne  took  their  departure.  Outside 
the  door  they  separated  with  a  warm  hand  grasp 
and  a  look  which  meant  a  new  sympathy  in  the 
closer  fellowship  with  the  Master  begun  that 
morning.  As  for  Mr.  Harden,  cut  to  the  quick 
by  the  last  word  of  Dr.  Sears,  unable  to  find  just 
cause  for  offense  in  his  plainness  of  speech,  yet 
unwilUng  to  admit  the  disingenuousness  of  his 
own  speech  and  the  exceeding  aptness  of  the 
retort,  the  banking  hours  of  that  day  were  com- 
fortable neither  for  him  nor  for  his  associates  in 
the  bank,  who  were  not  accustomed  to  seeing  their 
president  so  distraught. 


CHAPTER  II 

A   MISSIONARY    SESSION 

A  DAY  or  two  after  this  eventful  conversa- 
tion in  the  ofi&ce  of  Banker  Harden,  the 
session  of  Westminster  Church  met  infor- 
mally on  invitation  of  Elder  Austin,  at  his  home 
on  Grant  Avenue.  The  pastor  was  unable  to  be 
with  them  on  this  occasion,  but  was  not  sorry 
that  circumstances  had  prevented  his  attending 
the  meeting,  for  he  felt  that  it  was  exceedingly 
desirable  that  these  men  should  confer  with  the 
utmost  freedom  among  themselves  with  regard  to 
the  present  and  future  significance  of  the  events 
which  had  so  stirred  them  and  the  church.  More- 
over, on  the  principle  that  pastors  may  come  and 
pastors  may  go,  but  sessions  go  on  forever,  he 
desired  greatly  that  they  should  see  and  accept 
their  great  responsibihty  for  the  direction  of  the 
church  in  these  matters  of  beneficence,  w^hatever 
might  be  the  decision  as  to  his  own  future  relation 
to  the  church.  And,  heartily  as  they  desired  his 
company,  the  elders  themselves  were  glad  of  the 
opportunity,  the  first  they  had  secured,  to  talk 
freely  among  themselves.  The  elders'  wives  had 
also  been  invited  to  dinner,  w^hich  proved  the  most 
informal  and  delightful  social  gathering  they  had 
ever  enjoyed.  At  about  eight  o'clock  the  elders 
withdrew  to  the  library,  while  the  ladies  found 
34 


w  I  rn  YO  u  A  LWAYS  35 


quite  as  much  to  talk  about  in  the  parlor.  Elder 
Austin  passed  his  fine  Havana  cigars,  but  was 
surprised  at  the  small  demand.  ''Stanhope! 
Preston!  what's  the  matter?"  he  cried.  "I  never 
knew  you  to  refuse  a  good  cigar  before,  or  to  be 
slow  about  providing  them  in  your  own  homes, 
either.  Wentworth,  I  knew,  never  felt  that  he 
could  afford  to  smoke,  and  he  was  too  proud  to 
accept  what  he  couldn't  buy.  Here  are  Ogden 
and  Gilbert,  the  only  ones  to  keep  me  company. 
What,  Ogden  too  refuses?  You  don't  often  get 
a  better  smoke  than  these  'Perfectos.'  I  don't 
care  for  the  ordinary  sorts  myself,  but  I  call  these 
cheap  at  fifteen  dollars  a  hundred."  And  hardly 
knowing  whether  or  not  to  follow  the  example  of 
Mr.  Gilbert  and  light  a  cigar.  Elder  Austin  put  the 
box  on  the  table  and  sat  down.  Elder  Gilbert 
was  the  sixth  member  of  the  session,  and,  like 
Deacon  Thorne,  had  been  absent  from  town 
during  the  momentous  days.  On  his  return  he 
had  learned  of  what  had  occurred,  and  was  not 
unsympathetic,  but  had  not  yet  come  under  the 
transforming  inspiration  of  the  movement. 

The  venerable  Elder  Stanhope  relieved  the 
awkwardness  of  the  situation  by  apologizing  for 
any  apparent  lack  of  appreciation  of  their  host's 
hospitality,  and  remarked:  ''Pray  beheve  that  I 
am  not  speaking  in  criticism  of  our  host  or  of 
anyone  else,  or  trying  to  decide  questions  for 
anyone  else.  Having  used  tobacco  freely,  and 
without  apparent   injury   to  myself,  ever  since 


36  W  ITU    YOU    A  L  W  A  Y  S 


I  was  a  boy,  I  don't  suppose  the  question  of 
giving  it  up  at  my  age  would  ever  have  occurred 
to  me,  had  it  not  been  for  those  extraordinary 
figures  of  Mr.  Ralph  Jackson,  on  Foreign  Mission 
Sunday.  They  fairly  haunted  me,  and  I  tried 
to  persuade  myself  that  they  were  not  true.  Of 
course  they  were  given  in  round  numbers;  but 
when  I  came  to  look  up  the  details,  and  discov- 
ered that  our  own  country  spent  more  than  two 
biUion  dollars  for  wines  and  hquors  and  one  billion 
for  tobacco  during  the  past  year,  while  it  gave  only 
about  twelve  millions  for  the  evangelization  of  the 
world,  I  began  to  take  notice.  As  you  know,  I 
have  alwa3's  been  a  total  abstainer  from  intoxi- 
cating liquors;  and  I  have  often  noticed  sadly  the 
number  of  saloons  aJong  our  streets.  But  it  so 
happened  that  the  next  time  I  went  down  town, 
the  signs  that  stared  me  in  the  face  all  read, 
'Tobacco,'  'Cigars,'  and  I  was  amazed  to  note 
one,  two,  three,  even  four  stores  in  a  block,  selling 
nothing  else,  while  the  corner  drug  store  was  also 
stocked  with  the  same  goods.  Those  signs,  most 
of  them,  had  a  red  background  with  white  letters, 
and  as  it  was  evening,  they  shone  out  brilliantly. 
I  closed  my  eyes,  but  it  seemed  as  if  those  two 
words,  'Tobacco,'  'Cigars,'  in  red  and  white,  had 
been  seared  upon  my  eyeballs.  Playing  in  the 
streets  were  boys  of  ten  and  twelve,  puffing  away 
at  cigarettes,  and  I  met  a  theater  party,  the 
women  as  well  as  the  men  hard  at  it.  Up  high 
in   the   air  over  the   Columbia   building   shone 


WITE    YOU    ALWAYS  37 


brilliantly  over  the  whole  town  the  monstrous 
electric  sign,  'Egyptian  Deities  Cigarettes';  and, 
thought  I  to  myself,  'American  Deities  would  be 
even  more   appropriate.'     I   turned  about  and 
hastened  home.     I  tried  to  read,  but  my  mind 
kept  working   away,    'a  billion  for   tobacco,   a 
billion  for  tobacco;   nearly  twelve  dollars  apiece 
for  every  man,  woman  and  child  in  the  United 
States.     Probably  more  than  half  of  them  do  not 
smoke;  that  is  twenty-five  dollars  apiece  for  those 
who  do,  or  fifty  cents  a  week.     And  all  the  Pres- 
byterian Church  needs  to  meet  its  responsibility 
toward  the  non-Christian  world  is  five  dollars  a 
member,  or  ten  cents  a  week,  '  the  price  of  a  good 
cigar.'     In  other  words,  if  only  one  in  every  five 
of  the  members  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  used 
tobacco,  and  should  transfer  his  tobacco  money 
to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  the  six  million 
dollars  a  year  required  to  meet  our  responsibility 
would  be  in  hand,  and  the  other  four-fifths  of  the 
church  could  give  their  money  to  home  missions, 
or  to  helping  the  other  churches  to  meet  their 
responsibility.     How  about  my  twenty-five  dol- 
lars?    Well,  I  have  not  smoked  many  fifteen- 
cent  cigars,  but  I  have  bought  chiefly  ten-cent 
cigars    and    some    five-cent    ones.     I    have   not 
averaged  more  than  three  a  day,  which  I  know 
is  light,  and  I  suppose  they  have  cost  me  twenty- 
five  cents  a  day,  which  is  one  dollar  and  seventy- 
five  cents  per  week  and  ninety-two  dollars  and 
seventy-five  cents  per  year.     Including  extras. 


38  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

it  was  every  bit  of  one  hundred  dollars.  I  did 
not  have  to  give  any  attention  whatever  to  the 
question  of  physical  harm,  on  w^hich  so  much  stress 
is  laid  now  by  physicians,  of  example  to  children, 
of  offensiveness  to  ladies,  though  I  am  compelled 
to  admit  that  the  average  smoker  loses  steadily 
in  gentlemanly  regard  for  the  comfort  of  others, 
— that  sim^ple  financial  fact,  when  brought  up 
against  the  world's  great  need,  at  home  and 
abroad,  led  me  to  regard  smoking  as  a  luxury  in 
which  I  had  no  right  to  indulge,  in  which  I  knew 
that  my  Master  would  not  indulge,  if  he  were  here 
in  the  flesh.  I  had  not  reahzed  what  a  mastery 
the  habit  had  obtained  with  the  years,  but  grace 
has  been  given,  and  I  am  free." 

"That  was,  indeed,  an  interesting  and  moving 
experience  of  yours.  Brother  Stanhope,"  said  their 
host,  who  had  held  his  unlighted  cigar  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  speech,  and  finally  laid  it  on 
the  table.  "But  is  there  not  danger  in  your  line 
of  argument?  Did  not  our  Lord,  w^ho,  you  think, 
would  not  smoke  tobacco,  drink  wine  when  he 
was  on  earth,  a  form  of  indulgence  w^hich  we 
regard  as  more  dangerous  and  more  expensive?" 

"Are  you  perfectly  sincere.  Brother  Austin,  in 
advancing  that  question,  or  are  you  half  joking? 
I  surely  do  not  need  to  inform  you  that  the  wine 
which  our  Lord  drank  was  a  common,  inexpensive 
article  of  daily  food,  and  not  a  luxury  at  all,  or 
dangerous,  as  the  Jews  were  accustomed  to  drink 
it,"  replied  Mr.  Stanhope. 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  39 

''I  do  not  know  whether  you  sober,  elderly 
fathers  and  brethren  will  believe  it  or  not,"  spoke 
up  Lawyer  Ogden,  "but  dear  old  Elder  Stanhope's 
experience  wasn't  a  circumstance  to  mine.  As 
we  want  to  get  to  other  business,  I'll  make  a  long 
story  short  by  telling  you  that  ever  since  I've 
had  the  means  to  afford  it,  as  the  saying  is,  I  have 
smoked  an  average  of  ten  cigars  a  day,  and  some 
cigarettes  thrown  in.  I  used  to  smoke  more 
cigarettes,  and  my  cigars  cost  but  five  cents  each. 
But  for  the  last  two  or  three  years  my  tobacco 
has  cost  me  very  close  to  a  dollar  a  day.  The 
first  few  days  after  our  wonderful  Sunday,  I  cut 
it  in  halves  and  promised  the  saving  to  missions; 
but  it  wouldn't  do.  Then  I  cut  it  in  halves  again; 
but  the  more  I  thought  of  facts  such  as  Elder 
Stanhope  has  been  giving  us  to-night,  the  more 
I  felt  that,  as  with  wine,  the  time  had  come  when 
the  only  effective  Christian  protest  was  not 
moderation  but  total  abstinence.  Then,  too,  I 
found  I  hadn't  it  in  me  to  offer  Christ  a  cigar  or 
to  ask  him  for  a  light  and  puff  away  two  or  three 
New  Testaments  or  two  days'  board  of  a  native 
student  into  smoke.  I  knew  it  was  injuring  my 
own  health,  making  me  nervous  and  irritable; 
but  that  was  not  my  reason  for  quitting.  My 
heavenly  Father  never  put  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  dollars  a  year  into  my  hands  to  be 
burned  up  and  fly  away  in  smoke  wreaths.  Pray 
understand.  Elder  Austin,  that  I  am  not  criticising 
you;   my  unheard-of  refusal  of  a  good  cigar  had 


40  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

to  have  an  explanation,  that  was  all.  I  have 
given  it  to  you." 

James  Ward  Gilbert  had  been  looking  from  one 
to  another  of  his  fellow-elders  during  this  con- 
versation, at  first  with  a  most  quizzical  expression 
on  his  face,  taking  an  occasional  appreciative  puff 
at  the  ''Perfecto";  but  with  less  and  less  fre- 
quency, until  an  inch  or  more  of  ash  had  accumu- 
lated, which  he  knocked  off.  Then  he  pressed 
the  end  of  the  cigar  in  the  dish,  extinguishing  it. 
When  Lawyer  Ogden  had  finished,  he,  for  the 
first  time,  raised  his  voice:  "Talk  about  Rip 
van  Winkle!  The  changes  which  he  found  on 
awaking  after  twenty  years  aren't  in  it  with  the 
revolution  that  has  taken  place  here  in  the  two 
weeks  I've  been  away!  I  heard  that  there  had 
been  great  doings  in  Jaconsett  and  especially  in 
our  church;  and  when  I  find  that  Ned  Ogden  has 
completely  cut  out  tobacco  inside  of  ten  days,  I'm 
quite  ready  to  believe  it.  Has  the  millennium 
come,  friends?  or  what  has  happened?  I'm 
almost  persuaded  to  give  up  tobacco  myself; 
but  I  can't  believe  that  any  anti-tobacco  crusade 
has  done  all  this;  indeed,  I  judge  from  what  you 
have  been  saying,  that  it  is  something  far  more 
radical  than  that.  Even  if  it  is  a  bit  hard  on  a 
man's  self-indulgence,  it  sounds  good,  and  I 
want  you  to  let  me  inside  just  as  soon  as  possible." 

Dear  old  Elder  Wentworth's  face  had  been 
beaming  all  this  time,  but  he  had  not  said  a  word. 
Indeed,  he  had  hardly  had  a  chance  to  do  so. 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  41 

But  now  he  said  eagerly:  "You  are  quite  right, 
Brother  Gilbert;  we  have  not  gathered  here  to 
discuss  the  tobacco  question;  probably  no  one 
had  a  thought  of  its  emergence,  and  it  was  only 
the  unusual  refusal  of  one  form  of  Broiher  Austin's 
bountiful  hospitahty  which  called  forth  the  ex- 
planation. Indeed  we  shall  be  only  too  glad  to 
let  you  inside  at  the  earliest  possible  moment. 
Jesus  Christ  has  come  to  Westminster  Church; 
that's  all,  Brother  Gilbert;  and  has  shown  himself 
after  so  many  infallible  proofs  that  we  no  longer 
fail  to  realize  that  he  is  here,  in  this  room,  in  our 
homes  and  our  offices,  as  well  as  in  the  church; 
and  we  have  been  trying  to  square  our  thinking 
and  our  living  and  our  talking  and  our  giving  with 
that  great  fact  of  his  living  presence.  Our  pastor 
had  a  wonderful  dream  on  the  Saturday  night, 
and  saw  Jesus  in  the  flesh,  with  him  in  the  pulpit 
and  sitting  over  against  the  treasury;  and  when 
he  told  us  about  it,  it  was  so  real  that  he  was 
sitting  there  over  against  the  treasury  for  each 
one  of  us  as  we  made  our  offerings  on  quite  a  new 
basis.  Ah,  it  was  a  great  day!  and  the  Sunday 
night  and  the  Wednesday  night  were  all  of  a 
piece.  Our  people  gave  and  gave  until  they 
actually  seemed  to  enjoy  giving;  and  our  Lord 
looked  more  and  more  happy  over  it,  seeing 
our  elders  and  Deacon  Ransom,  and  Ralph 
Jackson  and  James  Waterson,  just  on  fire  for 
missions,  and  our  young  lawyers  and  doctors  and 
theological  students  offering  themselves  to  go  as 


42  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

missionaries;  I  just  knew  it  was  warming  his 
heart  toward  us.  And  I  liear  that  our  pastor  has 
been  to  see  Deacon  Thorne,  who  was  away,  and 
Dr.  Sears  and  Mr.  Harden;  and  the  deacon  and 
the  doctor  have  seen  the  vision.  But  poor  Mr. 
Harden,  he  just  won't  open  his  eyes.  He  says 
we  may  put  him  out  of  the  church,  but  he  won't 
give  a  cent  for  foreign  missions.  From  all  I 
can  hear,  it's  just  a  plain  case  of  resisting  the 
Spirit,  who's  been  striving  hard  with  him.  I 
don't  believe  we  can  do  a  better  thing,  as  a  session, 
than  to  pray  much  for  him  and  the  few  others  who 
are  just  cutting  themselves  off  from  the  blessing 
which  has  been  coming  to  the  rest  of  us.  Our 
pastor,  though  he  now  has  the  strength  of  ten, 
can't  do  it  all;  and  if  we  can  help  him  to  bring 
this  whole  church  in  line,  we'll  have  a  real  fore- 
taste of  heaven  here." 

Elder  Austin  had  been  sitting  Ustening,  yet 
deep  in  meditation  of  his  own.  At  length  he 
spoke,  in  a  tone  of  sadness  yet  of  resolution: 
"Friends,  you  remember  on  that  memorable 
Sabbath  evening,  that  I  was  moved  as  I  never 
was  moved  before,  and  spoke  with  an  intensity  of 
feeling,  and  an  abandon,  at  which  you  all  mar- 
veled. From  a  man  who  did  not  believe  in 
foreign  missions,  I  had  been  transformed,  in  a 
day,  into  a  foreign  mission  enthusiast,  so  that  I 
went  so  far  as  to  say  that  from  that  time  forth  I 
proposed  to  give  to  the  work  of  missions  at  least 
as  much  as  I  spent  on  myself  and  family.     I 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  43 


thought  I  had  gone  the  whole  length  of  duty  and 
my  responsibility,  and  that,  if  I  was  giving  as 
much  as  I  was  spending,  I  was  loving  my  neighbor 
as  myself,  and  that  no  more  could  be  asked  of 
me.  I  forgot  that  the  motive  to  missions  is  not 
merely  love  for  one's  neighbor,  and  that  the  rest 
of  the  command  is  to  love  the  Lord  thy  God  with 
all  thy  heart  and  soul  and  strength  and  mind. 
I  forgot  that  my  Master  gave  not  the  half,  but 
the  whole,  and  that,  in  following  him,  not  merely 
the  part  that  we  give,  but  also  the  part  that  we 
retain,  is  to  be  used  always  for  his  glory;  and  with 
that  also  we  are  to  seek  first  his  kingdom  and  his 
righteousness;  that  whether  we  eat  or  drink  or 
whatsoever  we  do,  we  are  to  do  all  to  the  glory  of 
God.  I  had  a  sort  of  idea  that  if  I  gave  the  half, 
there  would  be  no  more  questions  asked  about  the 
other  half,  no  matter  how  large  it  might  be;  and 
that,  so  long  as  I  was  not  doing  anything  wrong 
in  itself,  no  one  would  question  my  right  to 
luxuries  and  self-indulgence.  I  was  all  wrong: 
I  had  simply  said  to  my  Master,  'Here  is  that 
seminary  endowment  to  atone  for  the  past,  and 
here  is  as  much  for  the  work  as  I  spend  for  myself 
for  the  future ' ;  then  to  my  soul,  '  Soul,  thou  hast 
much  goods  laid  up  for  many  years ;  take  thine  ease, 
eat,  drink,  be  merry,'  with  never  a  qualm.  In 
spite  of  seeing  the  Lord  over  against  the  treasury, 
and  remembering  his  comparison  of  the  rich  men 
and  the  poor  widow,  it  never  occurred  to  me  that 
what  God  looks  at  is  not  what  a  man  gives  but 


44  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

what  he  keeps  for  himself.  So  much  money,  after 
all,  is  only  so  much  m.an.  It  represents  the  labor 
of  his  past  and  the  power  of  his  future.  Gi\ing 
half  the  money,  and  saying  to  the  Lord  '  Hands  off 
the  rest,'  is  but  half  consecration.  And  so  I've 
seen  another  vision  to-night;  and  those  luxuries 
which  do  not  make  me  a  distinctly  better  man,  or 
enable  me  to  make  others  better,  will  have  to  go. 
I  wonder  if  we,  the  six  elders  of  this  church,  are 
not  ready  for  a  unanimous  resolution,  as  the  first 
step  in  this  direction,  to  cut  out  the  tobacco?  It 
certainly  makes  us  no  better  men;  what  it  costs 
would  make  some  others  better  men." 

The  six  men  rose  with  one  accord,  joined  hands 
in  a  circle,  and  the  senior  elder  offered  a  few  words 
of  earnest  prayer,  that  each  one  might  welcome 
this  second  revelation  of  duty  and  privilege,  that 
henceforth  the  glory  of  God  might  be  considered 
not  only  in  the  giving,  but  in  the  very  eating 
and  drinking. 

UTien  they  resumed  their  seats.  Elder  Preston 
remarked,  with  a  smile,  the  kind  of  smile  which 
had  not  often  been  seen  on  his  face  before  that 
Sunday:  "Well,  brethren,  this  sort  of  Presby- 
terian Elders'  Reform  Club,  with  a  love  feast 
attached,  wasn't  written  in  the  call  of  our  meeting 
to-night,  Hke  a  good  many  other  things  that  have 
happened  to  us  in  the  last  few  days;  but  I  feel 
as  if  we  are  far  better  prepared  for  the  thing  for 
which  we  did  come  together  by  this  frank  talk 
and   searching  of  hearts.     I'm  very   sure   that 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  45 


there's  nothing  else  in  the  world  that  would 
influence  five  old  smokers  inside  of  two  weeks 
to  give  up  their  tobacco,  except  the  vision  of 
Jesus  Christ,  as  constantly  and  personally  present, 
and  to  be  consulted  about  every  item  of  their 
lives.  Brother  Wentworth  there  might  have 
lectured  and  exhorted  until  doomsday,  had  he 
been  so  inclined,  but  it  wouldn't  have  done  a  bit 
of  good.  I  never  had  much  idea  before  what 
Paul  meant  when  he  said,  'To  me  to  live  is 
Christ';  but  I'm  beginning  to  understand  it  now, 
and  the  smokers'  social  joys,  and  the  money- 
makers' joys,  simply  can't  hold  a  candle  to  the 
joys  of  fellowship  in  and  with  Christ,  and  the 
joys  of  blessing  the  world  with  the  money  which 
one  makes.  Strange,  isn't  it,  that  so  many 
men, — Christian  men,  too, — think  that  man's 
chief  end  is  to  make  money,  instead  of  realizing 
that  money's  chief  end  is  to  make  men?  Yet 
there  are  hosts  of  men  who  are  marred  in  the 
making  of  money,  while  I  never  yet  heard  of  any 
money  being  marred  in  the  right  making  of  men. 
But  now,  to  get  down  to  business,  there  are  still 
a  very  considerable  number  of  prominent  people 
in  our  church  who  are  not  set  right  on  this  matter, 
and  are  still  inclined,  as  I  used  to  be,  to  make  a 
dollar  bill  for  missions  cover  a  multitude  of  selfish- 
ness, to  say  nothing  of  the  many  who  do  not  even 
give  the  dollar.  A  church  that's  had  a  vision  is 
bound  to  set  an  example  to  other  churches  also; 
and  I  beUeve  that  we  elders,  in  our  personal  con- 


46  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

tact  with  the  other  men  of  the  church,  can  reach 
some  whom  our  pastor  cannot  reach.  Take 
Harden,  for  example;  the  kind  of  treatment  that 
worked  with  Sears  and  Thorne  has  only  soured 
him.  The  treatment  was  all  right,  for  many 
men  are  hke  growing  plums — they  get  most 
awfully  sour  in  the  process  of  growing  sweet. 
Now,  it  seems  to  me  Ogden's  the  man  to  tackle 
him.  They've  always  been  pretty  intimate,  and 
I  think  for  Harden  just  to  rub  up  against  the  new 
Ogden  for  a  while  will  be  as  effective  a  remedy  as 
could  be  found.  My,  but  won't  he  stare  when 
Ogden  refuses  his  cigars!  I'd  hke  to  see  the 
scene.  But  I  mustn't  be  assigning  these  hard 
cases  to  other  people;  I  am  quite  ready  to  take 
one  myself.  There's  Cal  Weatherby,  for  example. 
I've  known  Cal  rain  and  shine  for  forty  years, 
and  there's  not  a  more  generous  man  hving,  in  his 
w^ay.  He's  been  a  member  of  our  church  almost 
as  long  as  I've  known  him,  and  he's  paid  his  pew 
rent  regularly.  He  was  a  teacher  in  the  Sunday 
school  twenty  years  ago;  but  gradually  dropped 
out.  He  can't  meet  a  beggar  on  the  street  with- 
out giving  him  a  dime  or  a  quarter;  but  I  don't 
believe  he  ever  gave  a  cent  for  either  home  or 
foreign  missions,  unless  he  was  caught  unawares 
in  church  on  collection  Sunday,  and  didn't  dare 
let  the  plate  pass  unnoticed.  What  Cal  needs,  as 
some  one  once  said,  is  a  good  acute  case  of 
'information  on  the  brain,'  followed  by  an  attack 
of  'application  of  the  heart';   and  he'll  come  out 


WITH    YOU    ALWA  YS  47 


all  right.  I'll  make  myself  responsible  for  the 
hypodermic  injections  of  toxin,  and  see  if  we  can't 
get  him  good  and  sick,  and  then  ask  Dr.  Sears  to 
call  round  and  cure  him  by  letting  a  Uttle  blood 
into  the  treasury.  But,  joking  aside,  we  shall 
find  plenty  of  opportunities  to  let  our  new  light 
shine;  and  I  beheve  we  shall  see  far  better  days 
in  our  church  even  than  those  which  we  have 
been  enjoying  recently." 

''Suppose  we  see  if  we  can't  fix  upon  a  man 
apiece  before  we  separate  to-night,"  suggested 
Elder  Wentworth.  "It  won't  do  for  me  to  make 
up  to  any  of  the  very  rich  men,  for  they  will 
think,  'It  is  easy  enough  for  Wentworth  to  talk 
when  he  doesn't  own  one  hundred  dollars  of  bank 
stock,  or  any  other  for  that  matter.'  There  is 
Russell  Seward,  chief  bookkeeper  at  Doran  and 
Hutchins.'  He's  a  very  good  friend  of  mine,  and 
his  income  is,  I  imagine,  just  about  what  mine  is. 
But  I  know  one  thing,  that  he  doesn't  get  a  tenth 
part  of  the  enjoyment  out  of  it.  He  dresses  no 
better  and  rents  no  finer  house.  What  he  does 
with  his  money  I  don't  know.  That  man  has 
been  a  trouble  of  heart  to  me  for  a  long  time.  He 
often  seems  so  depressed.  It  was  rumored  a  few 
months  ago  that  he  had  attempted  to  commit 
suicide;  but  the  matter  was  hushed  up,  and  he 
has  gone  on  with  his  work  as  usual.  He  was  not 
at  church  that  Sunday  morning, — working  at  his 
books  until  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  he  told  me 
afterward,  and  just  had  to  sleep  late.     He  came 


48  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

out  that  evening,  but  he  had  missed  the  beginning 
and  did  not  get  kindled.  And  he  couldn't  come 
Wednesday  evening.  I  will  take  him  as  my 
special  object  of  prayer  and  effort.  But  speaking 
of  prayer  reminds  me  of  one  thing  we  must  not 
forget — that  what  we  are  after  with  these  men 
is  not  the  dollars  and  cents,  but  the  life  touch 
with  the  Master.  When  that  is  realized,  enjoyed 
and  steadily  maintained,  the  money  and  the  life 
service  will  never  be  lacking.  I  have  just  been 
thinking  that  the  keys  to  God's  power  house  are 
like  those  to  the  safety  vaults;  it  takes  all  three, 
the  prayer,  the  gifts,  the  service,  used  together, 
according  to  each  man's  assigned  combination,  to 
open  the  lock." 

''There  is  one  of  my  particular  friends," 
began  Elder  Stanhope,  with  a  return  to  his  calm, 
dignified  habit  of  speech,  "who  was  among  those 
'  who  went  away  sorrowful '  that  Sunday  morning, 
because  he  had  'great  possessions.'  Although  a 
trustee,  he  has  not  been  in  the  church  since,  and 
he  has  appeared  to  avoid  me,  as  if  he  feared  that 
I  would  add  to  his  sorrow  by  some  reference  to  the 
events  of  that  day.  I  have  been  planning  to  get 
in  contact  with  Judge  Melrose,  but  have  hesitated 
to  force  myself  upon  him.  You  may  depend  upon 
me,  however,  to  avail  myself  of  the  first  oppor- 
tunity to  seek  to  open  his  eyes  to  the  understand- 
ing of  that  fact  which  Brother  Wentworth  has  so 
happily  expressed,  that  the  great  significance  of 
that  day  was  not  the  pouring  of  the  money  into 


W ITH    YOU    A  LWAYS  65 

elders.  Being  already  of  one  mind  as  to  the 
forming  of  a  committee,  we  hardly  need  to  take 
time  to-day  to  discuss  the  general  plan.  Who 
of  you  all  is  most  on  fire  for  missions?" 

"If  you  are  going  to  put  it  that  way,  Mr. 
Stanton,  I  think  we'll  all  have  to  be  members,*' 
said  Mr.  Odgen;  "but  I  don't  believe  there's 
one  of  our  number  who  will  do  better  work  on 
this  committee  than  Brother  Wentworth,  for  he 
was  on  fire  long  ago,  when  we  were  nothing  but 
shivering  icebergs." 

In  spite  of  his  modest  protest.  Elder  Went- 
worth was  unanimously  chosen  to  represent  the 
session. 

"What  about  the  deacons?"  asked  Mr.  Preston. 
"They  are  certainly  one  of  our  benevolent  organi- 
zations, and  surely  no  one  could  represent  them 
better  than  our  good  'Deacon  Philip'  Ransom, 
who,  like  his  original,  'hasn't  any  finicky  no- 
tions.' He'll  not  let  the  committee  go  to  sleep 
while  he  is  serving  tables." 

Again  there  was  no  difference  of  opinion,  and 
down  went  the  name  of  Deacon  Ransom. 

"In  order  to  forestall  any  suggestion  that  the 
Sunday-school  superintendent  be  the  repre- 
sentative of  that  body  on  this  committee, — not 
because  I  am  unwilling  to  work,  but  because  the 
superintendent  has  his  hands  full  already,  and 
because  we  should  not  have  too  many  elders  on 
the  committee, — I  want  to  suggest  the  name  of 
my  assistant,  Mr.  George  Quincy,"  said  Elder 
5 


66  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

Austin.  "You  remember  how  earnestly  he 
pleaded,  on  that  Wednesday  evening,  for  some- 
thing more  than  mere  'interest'  in  missions? 
He  is  a  fine  young  business  man,  and  I  believe 
will  help  to  secure  and  maintain  effective  business 
methods  in  our  committee." 

This  also  was  regarded  by  all  as  a  wise  selection. 

''One  question  occurs  to  me  with  regard  to  what 
we  are  doing,"  said  Elder  Gilbert.  "I  was  about 
to  make  a  nomination  from  the  Brotherhood, 
when  it  suddenly  occurred  to  me  that  they  ought 
to  have  the  privilege  of  making  that  nomination 
themselves,  and  that  they  would  feel  far  more 
interest  in  the  work  of  the  committee  if  allowed  to 
nominate,  even  though  the  actual  appointment 
should  rest  wdth  the  session.  So  far  as  we  have 
gone,  I  think  it  is  all  right,  though  we  might  also 
consult  the  deacons  as  to  their  representative." 

"You  are  right.  Brother  Gilbert,"  said  the 
pastor.  "  It  may  cause  a  few  days'  delay,  but 
it  will  pay.  Will  you  then,  as  our  clerk,  send  a 
brief  statement  to  the  deacons,  the  Sunday  school, 
the  Brotherhood,  the  Young  People's  Society, 
and  the  Ladies'  Missionary  Society,  asking  each 
of  them  to  nominate* a  representative  before  next 
Wednesday  evening,  w^hen  we  will  meet  again, 
appoint  the  committee  and  urge  an  early  meeting? 
In  the  meantime,  let  us  all  give  thought  to  the 
functions  of  such  a  committee,  so  as  to  be  able 
to  make  recommendations  next  week  when  the 
committee    is    appointed.     At    that    time,    too, 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  67 

I  expect  to  have  some  good  news  to  report  to  you, 
which  I  am  not  yet  at  Hberty  to  divulge.  I  shall 
not  be  surprised  if  others  of  you  also  have  good 
things  to  report.  Is  it  not  simply  delightful, 
the  increased  interest  that  is  being  taken  in  our 
church  services,  and  particularly  in  the  prayer 
meeting?  I  heard  the  report  of  a  presbytery, 
the  other  day,  in  which  only  twenty-three  of  the 
fifty-six  churches  continue  to  maintain  a  weekly 
prayer  meeting.  What  that  presbytery  needs  is 
the  vision  which  you  and  I  have  received.  If 
they  should  get  that,  nothing  could  keep  them 
from  the  prayer  meeting." 

Session  adjourned  to  meet  one  week  later, 
and  again  assembled  at  the  close  of  the  midweek 
meeting. 

"Our  clerk  will  make  a  report  of  the  work 
that  was  committed  to  him  last  week,"  said  Mr. 
Stanton. 

"I  am  glad  to  be  able  to  report  for  the  Sunday 
school  and  the  deacons  just  the  nominations 
suggested  last  week,"  said  Mr.  Gilbert.  ''The 
Brotherhood  nominates  Dr.  Sears,  who  has  be- 
come as  much  of  an  enthusiast  as  any  of  us;  the 
Young  People's  Society  norninates  Miss  Gertrude 
Austin,  the  chairman  of  its  Missionary  Com- 
mittee; the  Ladies'  Missionary  Society  nominates 
Mrs.  Preston.  One  way  or  another,  our  session 
is  going  to  be  pretty  well  represented,  I  think. 
I  move  that  we  appoint  those  thus  nominated 
as    the    Missionary  Committee  of  this  church, 


68  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

and  ask  our  pastor  to  convene  the  committee  just 
as  soon  as  possible." 

The  motion  was  carried  unanimously,  after 
which  Mr.  Stanton  said: 

''You  may  remember  that  I  half  promised  you 
some  good  news  last  week.  I  am  free  to  tell  it 
now,  and  it  is  this:  Mrs.  Stowell  meant  every 
word  she  said  that  Wednesday  night,  and  went 
right  to  work  to  unlock  her  missionaries.  After 
making  all  reservations  which  loyalty  to  husband 
and  friends  could  require,  she  asked  me  to  guess 
how  much  she  had  to  dispose  of  in  the  way  of 
jewels,  and  I  guessed  a  thousand  dollars.  How 
she  did  laugh  as  she  told  me  that  she  could  sell 
them  for  eighty  thousand,  and  proposed  to  give 
half  to  foreign  missions  and  half  to  home  objects ! 
She  has  just  given  me  a  check  for  the  entire  sum, 
with  half  of  which  I  am  to  secure  some  buildings 
in  the  foreign  field  to  act  as  her  'living  safe- 
deposit  vaults'  by  training  up  a  native  ministry. 
The  other  half  I  am  to  divide  among  the  different 
boards  working  at  home.  In  addition,  she  will 
contribute  a  thousand  a  year  each  to  foreign 
and  home  missions  out  of  her  private  income. 
And  the  beauty  of  it  is  that  her  face  has  become 
fairly  radiant  with  the  joy  of  it.  If  this  great 
change  does  not  contribute  to  the  winning  of  her 
husband,  he  must  be  hard  indeed." 

"I  had  no  idea,"  spoke  up  Mr.  Gilbert,  "when 
I  took  Mr.  Stowell  as  my  'special  object,'  that 
I  was  going  to  have  any  such  help,  for  I  had  not 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  69 


heard  of  his  wife's  speech  that  evening;  but  when 
I  made  my  first  attack,  I  noticed  something  rather 
peculiar  about  him.  You  know  what  a  phlegmatic 
temper  he  has.  Well,  he  actually  seemed  nervous, 
fidgeting  with  his  hands  and  averting  his  face.  I 
hadn't  got  any  farther  than  the  weather  when  he 
broke  out:  'You're  not  in  this  foolishness  up  at 
the  church,  are  you,  Gilbert?  I  can't  imagine 
what's  come  over  our  people:  there's  no  living 
with  them  any  longer.  First  thing  we  know 
they'll  be  poor  as  poverty,  after  giving  even  the 
clothes  off  their  backs  to  the  heathen.  Now, 
there's  my  wife,  for  example;  if  ever  there  was  a 
woman  that  Hked  silks  and  satins  and  jewelry  and 
gay  society,  it  was  she;  and  all  of  a  sudden  she 
turns  right  around;  and,  if  it  wasn't  for  her  con- 
sideration for  my  feelings,  I  believe  she  w^ould  sell 
every  blessed  thing  she  owns  and  turn  it  into 
missionaries.  I  must  admit  that  she  has  never 
in  her  life  been  half  so  nice  to  me  as  she  is  now, 
and  she  is  quite  willing  to  do  nothing  rashly. 
She  is  at  home  twice  as  much  as  she  used  to  be, 
and  she  doesn't  look  like  the  same  woman;  but  I 
can't  fathom  it.  Why  should  an  interest  in 
missions  turn  everything  upside  down  in  this 
fashion? ' 

"It  was  some  time  before  I  could  get  a  word 
in  edgewise,"  went  on  Mr.  Gilbert;  ''but  then  I 
said,  'Is  it  foolishness  you  call  it,  Stowell?  Not 
to  mention  anything  else,  would  you  rather  your 
wife  would  go  back  to  the  old  ways?'    '  No,  I  can't 


70  W ITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


say  that  I  would,"  he  rephed,  'for  she's  certainly 
making  our  home  brighter,  and  the  children  think 
themselves  in  clover  because  their  mother  isn't 
everlastingly  away  at  bridge  parties  or  the  theater; 
but  tell  me,  what  does  it  all  mean;  and  are  you  in 
it,  Gilbert?'  'Yes,  Stowell,'  I  said,  'I  am  in  it  to 
stay  in.  I  was  absent  on  those  interesting  days 
when  the  thing  began;  but  I  got  home  just  in 
time  for  a  dinner  of  the  elders  and  their  wives  at 
Mr.  Austin's.  What  should  happen  after  dinner 
but  every  blessed  man  except  myself  refused 
Austin's  "  Perfecto  "  cigars.'  '  What,  Ogden  too?' 
he  exclaimed.  'Yes,  Ogden  too;  and  they  soon 
explained  that  our  country's  billion  dollars  for 
tobacco,  the  past  year,  against  twelve  milUons  for 
foreign  missions,  was  more  than  they  were  willing 
to  stand  for.  Before  the  meeting  was  over  our 
session  made  a  clean  sweep  of  the  weed,  and  we're 
all  happier  for  it  to-day.  But,  to  answer  your 
other  question  and  this  one  together,  it  is  not 
primarily  a  question  of  tobacco  or  jewels  or 
society,  or  even  of  the  heathen;  it  is  a  question  of 
each  man's  personal  relation  to  a  living  and  pres- 
ent Saviour  and  Master.  Once  realized,  that 
settles  every  question.  If  I  think  my  Friend 
and  Master,  Jesus  Christ,  would  smoke  in  my 
place,  I  smoke;  if  I  think  he  would  keep  quantities 
of  gold  or  jewels  in  cold  storage,  or  on  exhibition, 
I  keep  them;  if  I  think  he  would  spend  his  time 
at  bridge  and  the  theater,  I  spend  my  time  at 
them;  if  I  think  he  would  let  some  or  all  of  these 


WITB    YOU   ALWA  YS  71 

go,  along  with  his  precious  blood  to  save  the 
non-Christian  world,  I  let  them  go.  That's  the 
whole  thing  in  a  nutshell,  Stowell;  and  it  has  made 
a  different  man  of  me,  just  as  it  has  evidently 
made  a  different  woman  of  your  wife.'  ^Will 
wonders  never  cease?'  he  cried;  'it  can't  be 
James  Ward  Gilbert  talking  this  way  to  me.  If 
it  were  the  dominie,  now,  one  inight  expect  it; 
but  Saul  is  certainly  among  the  prophets  this 
time!  But  seriously,  Gilbert,  if  it  were  not  so 
utterly  upsetting  to  the  whole  system  of  modern 
business  and  society,  I  should  be  obliged  to  say 
that  your  logic  was  pretty  straight.  But  think 
what  it  would  mean,  man :  the  whole  edifice  would 
tumble  in  ruins.  Poor  old  Wall  Street  would  go 
into  the  hands  of  a  receiver,  and  the  Four  Hun- 
dred would  be  sailing  for  Africa,  and  not  for 
diamonds,  either — unless  it  be  black  ones.' 
'Well,  Stowell,'  I  said,  'the  beautiful  thing  about 
it  is  that  a  man  doesn't  have  to  take  one  more 
step  along  this  line  than  he  wishes  to  take.  If 
a  man  will  just  accept  the  fact  once  for  all,  and 
let  the  fact  do  its  own  work,  every  overturning 
that  it  causes  will  be  an  upturning,  every  revolu- 
tion a  forward  movement,  and  every  renunciation 
will  prove  an  annunciation.  I  have  yet  to  hear 
of  a  man,  woman  or  child  who  has  accepted  the 
fact  who  would  now  give  it  up  for  anything  in  the 
world.  The  best  thing  that  ever  happens  to  a 
man  is  to  find  Jesus  Christ;  but  most  of  us,  after 
finding  him,   thanked  him  for  saving   us  from 


72  WITB    YOU   ALWA  YS 


eternal  punishment,  and  then  left  him  and  went 
about  our  own  business  as  if  he  had  nothing  to  do 
with  that.  And  all  his  commands  and  entreaties 
and  invitations  and  promises  have  seemed  to 
concern  others,  but  not  us.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  that  if  our  Master  were  given  his  own  way 
in  Wall  Street,  and  among  the  Four  Hundred, 
there  w^ould  be  some  exciting  times;  but  the  first 
question  for  us  is,  are  we  going  to  let  him  have  his 
own  way  with  us?'  After  that  I  just  left  Stowell 
to  himself,  looking  more  moved  than  I  have  ever 
seen  him.  If  he  comes  round,  it  will  be  his  wife's 
doings." 

After  a  prayer  of  thanksgiving,  the  session 
adjourned. 

Two  days  later,  on  the  Friday  evening,  the 
persons  chosen  to  form  the  new  Missionary 
Committee  met  at  the  manse,  on  invitation  of  the 
pastor.  After  prayer  Mr.  Stanton  set  before 
them  the  purpose  of  their  appointment.  Elder 
Wentworth  was  selected  chairman;  Miss  Austin, 
secretary.  The  new  chairman  took  the  seat 
vacated  by  Mr.  Stanton,  and  remarked: 

"Pretty  poor  figurehead  I'll  make,  I'm  afraid. 
Now,  we'll  just  go  ahead  and  forget  that  we  have 
any  chairman  while  we  talk  over  our  plans  about 
the  feet  of  our  Lord  Jesus.  I  expect  we  shall  find 
considerable  to  do,  for  a  while,  at  least,  so  don't 
you  think  we  would  better  plan  for  weekly  meet- 
ings? We  can  hold  them  less  frequently  after  a 
time,  if  desirable.     How  will  Friday  evenings  at 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  73 

one  of  our  homes,  do?  Is  there  anyone  who  can- 
not usually  come  on  Friday  night?" 

That  evening  was  adopted  as  the  most  conve- 
nient for  all,  upon  which  the  chairman  remarked: 

"As  I  understand  it,  the  great  aim  of  all  the 
expanding  and  coordinating  which  our  committee 
is  to  seek  to  do,  is  to  give  efficiency  to  our  church's 
policy  with  reference  to  all  its  benevolent  work. 
That  policy  was  announced  more  than  seventy 
years  ago  by  our  General  Assembly,  but  seems  to 
have  been  buried  in  the  archives  ever  since,  so  far 
as  our  church  and  many  others  are  concerned. 
Our  chief  duty,  then,  is  to  devise  means  to  impress 
upon  every  member  of  the  church  the  facts,  first, 
that  the  Presbyterian  Church,  by  its  very  consti- 
tution, and  by  the  solemn  and  repeated  declara- 
tion of  its  General  Assembly,  is  a  missionary 
society,  the  chief  object  of  which  is  to  aid  in  the 
evangelization  of  the  world;  second,  that  every 
member  of  the  church  is,  therefore,  a  member  for 
life  of  a  missionary  society,  and  bound  to  do  all 
in  his  power  for  the  accomplishment  of  this  object; 
third,  that  joining  with  the  rest  of  the  church  in 
the  support,  by  prayer,  by  gifts,  by  service,  of  a 
parish  abroad  is  as  much  the  privilege  and  duty  of 
every  member  of  the  church  as  is  the  support  of 
the  parish  at  home;  fourth,  that  our  giving,  as 
an  act  of  worship,  should  be,  according  to  the 
Scriptures,  individual,  systematic  and  propor- 
tional. '  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let  each 
one  of  you    lay  by  him  in  store,    as   he    may 


74  WITH    YOU    ALWA  Y  S 

prosper.'  When  we  have  succeeded  in  con- 
vincing everyone  that  this  is  the  programme  of 
God  for  him,  and  that  its  carrying  out,  in  the 
reahzation  of  the  presence  of  the  Master  himself, 
is  the  secret  of  highest  blessing  to  self  and  to  the 
world,  then  our  duty  as  a  committee  will  be 
accompHshed.  Our  duty  is  not  to  see  how  much 
money  we  can  raise, — these  last  few  weeks  have 
taught  us  that  that  will  almost  take  care  of  itself, 
— but  to  convince  every  man  that  no  self -centered 
life  is  a  complete  or  a  happy  hfe.  It  does  my  soul 
good  to  think  how  many  have  discovered  this 
recently;  and  it  is  a  great  privilege  which  is  given 
to  us,  as  members  of  this  committee,  to  help  in 
bringing  this  joy  to  every  last  one  in  the  church." 

"Don't  you  think,  Mr.  Wentworth,  that  the 
great  trouble  ^^'ith  most  people  is  that  they  don't 
know  about  the  work,  its  needs  and  its  oppor- 
tunities?" asked  ]\Iiss  Austin.  "I  know  that  I 
myself  never  imagined  a  tenth  part  of  the  interest 
of  it  all  as  it  has  come  to  me  these  last  few  weeks 
through  reading  and  hearing  about  it.  And  yet 
I  have  been,  for  more  than  a  year,  chairman  of 
our  Christian  Endeavor  Missionary  Committee!" 

"Yes,  I  think  that  is  very  true,  Gertrude," 
repHed  the  elder;  "  yet  information  is  not  always 
inspiration.  There  is  a  great  deal  of  difference 
between  sight  and  vision.  Thousands  of  tourists, 
many  of  them  Christians,  go  round  the  world 
every  year  and  see  Hhe  heathen  in  his  blindness 
bow  down  to  wood  and  stone';    but  the  only 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  75 

desire  awakened  is  to  get  possession,  by  fair 
means  or  foul,  of  those  same  images  of  wood  and 
stone  to  carry  home  as  curios ;  and  they  never  go 
near  the  missionary  to  see  his  work,  yet  many  of 
them  return  home  to  report  that  he  is  doing  noth- 
ing. No;  it  is  only  when  we  hear  what  we  hear 
with  the  Saviour's  ears  and  see  what  we  see  with 
the  Saviour's  eyes  that  it  serves  for  inspiration. 
The  other  is  merely  sight-seeing;  this  is  vision- 
beholding.  But  what  you  wished  to  urge  was  the 
need  of  information,  education;  and  it  is  a  very 
primary  need.  What  were  you  thinking  of 
suggesting  along  that  line,  Gertrude?" 

''My  thought  was  that  there  is  now  such  a 
great  variety  of  inspiring  books  and  pamphlets  to 
be  had  that  one  of  our  chief  duties  should  be  the 
getting  of  this  literature  into  the  hands  of  every 
member  of  the  church.  Some  of  the  leaflets 
might  be  given  away;  but  I  thought  of  some  form 
of  loan  library  for  the  books.  Only  the  library 
will  not  loan  itself, — at  least,  in  the  places  where 
it  is  most  needed.  So  I  think  that  one  or  two  of 
our  number  ought  to  be  appointed  as  a  literature 
committee,  to  see  to  the  securing  and  diffusing 
of  Christian  missionary  books." 

''The  same  committee  might  greatly  increase 
the  subscriptions  to  'The  Missionary  Review  of 
the  World,'  'The  Assembly  Herald,'  'Woman's 
Work,'  'Over  Sea  and  Land'  and  'Every  Land,' 
and  should  always  bear  in  mind  that  that  bright 
little  magazine,  'All  the  World,'  is  sent  free  to  all 


76  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


contributors  of  five  dollars  or  more  per  year  to  the 
work  of  our  foreign  board,"  added  Mrs.  Preston; 
"and  I  do  not  believe  that  there  is  on  of  our 
number  who  can  do  this  work  more  ef^ciently 
than  the  one  who  has  proposed  it.  I  m^ve  that 
Gertrude  Austin  be  our  Literature  Committee." 
All  were  in  favor. 

"  If  you're  going  to  treat  in  that  way  th  ,eople 
who  make  suggestions,"   said  Deacon  som, 

"I'm  going  to  save  myself  by  nominatin,*,  Jeorge 
Quincy  as  the  Committee  on  Finance;  and  he'll 
have  to  tell  us  the  best  method  of  collecting  our 
offerings,  and  boss  the  job  of  buttonholing  every 
member  of  the  church  by  and  by  with  'Your 
money  or  your  life  for  missions.'" 

"I  will  return  the  compliment  by  nominating 
'Deacon  Philip'  Ransom  as  the  Committee  on 
the  Missionary  Meeting,  for  he  can  be  trusted  to 
keep  everyone  from  going  to  sleep,"  retorted  Mr. 
Quincy. 

"I  think  we  can  hardly  ask  the  Literature 
Committee  to  take  charge  of  mission  study,  so  I 
will  suggest  Dr.  Sears  as  a  special  committee  on 
that  subject,"  said  Mr.  Stanton,  earnestly  desirous 
that  the  physician  himself  might  search  deeply  in 
the  mines  of  missionary  lore. 

'\Should  we  not  have  a  Committee  on  Corre- 
spondence, to  keep  us  in  touch  with  those  of  our 
young  people  who  are  going  as  missionaries?" 
suggested  the  chairman;  "I  nominate  Mrs. 
Preston." 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  77 


"  And  I  nominate  our  chairman  as  a  Committee 
on  Prayer,"  said  Mrs.  Preston.  "There  is  no 
one  am..)ng  us  who  knows  more  of  its  power,  or 
of  its  vital  importance  to  the  work  we  are  under- 
taking. 

All  were  in  hearty  accord  as  to  these  nom- 
inationr,  and  the  appointments  were  made 
accor^r'   igly. 

"1  meeting  was  merely  for  organziation," 
said  U  chairman.  ''Next  week  let  every  com- 
mittee bring  a  report  of  work  done  and  suggestions 
to  offer.  And  may  our  ever-present  Master  bless 
us  abunaantly  in  our  plan-making  and  our  work." 

A  new  vista  of  opportunity  and  possibility  had 
opened  before  Westminster  Church. 


CHAPTER  IV 

A    MISSIONARY    SUNDAY    SCHOOL 

BEFORE  the  Missionary  Committee  had 
held  its  first  meeting  Elder  Austin  and 
his  assistant  superintendent,  Mr.  George 
Quincy,  had  held  an  earnest  conversation  at  the 
office  of  the  latter  concerning  the  relation  of  the 
Sunday  school  to  the  new  missionary  interest  in 
the  church. 

''It  is  no  wonder,"  remarked  Mr.  Austin,  "that 
those  of  us  who  are  older  have  had  little  interest 
heretofore  in  the  evangelization  of  the  world,  for 
w^e  were  not  educated  to  it;  and  the  only  w^ay  to 
perpetuate  the  present  interest  is  to  educate  our 
children  to  it.  That  seems  axiomatic,  doesn't  it? 
Yet  I  don't  suppose  that  one  out  of  three  of  the 
Sunday  schools  of  our  church  gives  any  attention 
to  the  subject,  unless  it  be  the  perfunctory  teach- 
ing of  an  occasional  missionary  lesson  in  the  regu- 
lar course.  I  hate  to  confess  it,  but  I  always  used 
to  wish  that  those  lessons  had  been  left  out.  I 
had  no  power  to  teach  them  myself,  and  knew  that 
more  than  half  our  teachers  felt  the  same  way. 
But  now  I  don't  believe  that  a  formal  lesson  once 
in  three  or  six  months  is  by  any  means  enough. 
I  want  all  the  members  of  our  school  to  realize  that 
teaching  people  to  live  for  others  and  for  Christ  is 
the  great  purpose  of  the  church  school ;  and  if  you 
78 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  79 

agree  with  me,  and  we  can  enlist  the  aid  of  the 
teachers,  we'll  have  a  missionary  lesson  every 
Sunday.  It  need  not  take  long,  never  more  than 
ten  minutes,  usually  only  five;  but  even  though 
it  be  necessary  to  lengthen  the  school  session  by 
so  much,  it  should  be  done.  The  children  are 
in  the  day  schools,  training  body  and  mind,  for 
twenty-five  to  thirty  hours  a  week,  and  it  is  a 
pity  if  they  must  be  positively  limited  to  one  hour 
a  week  for  the  training  of  the  spirit." 

"I  heartily  agree  with  you,  Mr.  Austin," 
responded  Quincy.  "The  evangelization  of  the 
world  will  depend  very  largely  upon  those  of 
various  ages  who  are  in  our  Sunday  schools  to-day; 
and  the  interest  of  the  youth,  if  intelligent  and 
personal,  will  become  passion  in  the  adult.  We 
must  certainly  see  to  it  that  no  pupil  goes  out  of 
our  school  ignorant  of  the  great  facts  of  the 
world's  need  and  the  principles  of  its  God-planned 
supply,  or  insensible  of  his  personal  relation  to 
that  need  and  supply.  To  this  end  we  should 
have  constant  missionary  instruction,  should 
have  a  large  selection  of  missionary  books  in  our 
library,  and  should  create  a  missionary  atmos- 
phere in  the  school  by  mechanical  as  wtII  as  other 
means." 

"You  mean  by  that  the  display  of  maps  and 
pictures?" 

"Yes;  maps,  pictures,  charts,  banners  and 
mottoes.  There  are  a  good  many  of  these  last  to 
be  had  ready-made,  I  believe.     Some  of  them. 


80  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

formulated  originally  for  adults,  can  easily  be 
modified:  for  example,  'The  resources  of  God 
are  only  for  those  who  undertake  the  programme 
of  God'  might  read  'God's  promises  are  only  for 
those  who  will  carry  out  God's  plans. '  It  will  take 
quite  a  little  money  to  decorate  the  walls  of  our 
Sunday-school  room  in  this  way;  but  I  think  it 
will  pay  many  times  over." 

"Well,  Quincy,  if  you  will  take  the  trouble  to 
look  up  the  best  of  these  things  to  be  found  and 
get  them,  I  will  agree  to  foot  the  bill.  As  for  the 
books,  I  think  we  would  better  call  a  meeting  of 
the  Library  Committee  next  Sunday,  and  have 
a  list  of  recommendations  ready  for  them.  Of 
course,  this  new  feature  of  the  library  will  require 
advertising;  but  I  miss  my  guess  if  there  is  not 
a  large  demand  for  those  books  by  a  year  from 
no-w.  We  ought  to  have  books  adapted  to  all 
grades,  and  first  thing  we  know  we  shall  have  the 
adult  Bible  class  and  the  young  men's  class  taking 
books  home  to  read.  In  all  these  matters, 
Quincy,  I  think  we  want  to  steer  clear  of  one 
mistake.  I  imagine  there's  very  Uttle  real  danger 
of  over-emphasis,  but  for  the  sake  of  the  sus- 
ceptibihties  of  a  few  people,  and  to  make  clear 
the  oneness  of  the  whole  work,  we  must  take 
pains  not  to  confine  our  literature,  or  our  charts, 
or  our  talks,  to  foreign  missions;  give  home  mis- 
sions their  full  share,  that  our  young  people  may 
understand  from  the  beginning  that  to  Christ 
there  is  no  such  distinction,  for  to  him  'the  field 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  81 

is  the  world/  the  emphasis  merely  to  be  laid  on 
the  most  needy  parts.  I  have  just  come  to 
notice,  for  the  first  time,  how  many  of  those  who 
urge  the  need  of  home  missions  as  a  reason  for 
doing  nothing  for  foreign  missions  limit  their  idea 
of  home  missions  almost  exclusively  to  their  own 
local  church,  while  fully  half  of  them  contract  it 
still  further  to  'me  and  my  wife,  my  son  John, 
him  and  his  wife,  us  four  and  no  more.' " 

"That's  right,  Mr.  Austin;  I  met  John  Boyce 
the  other  day,  and  got  to  talking  with  him  about 
these  developments  in  our  church.  He  said, 
'The  church  is  mad  to  be  sending  all  this  good 
money  away  to  foreign  lands,  with  millions  of 
veritable  heathen  on  our  frontiers  and  in  the 
slums  of  our  cities.'  I  know  the  man  pretty  wtII, 
and  could  not  help  asking  him,  '  Mr.  Boyce,  par- 
don a  personal  question,  but  since  you  speak  so 
enthusiastically  in  behalf  of  the  people  without 
the  gospel  on  our  frontiers,  would  you  mind  tell- 
ing me  how  much  you  gave  to  home  missions  last 
year?'  'Why — why — why,'  he  stammered,  'I 
believe  I  was  away  from  town  when  the  collection 
was  taken,  and  I  don't  know  as  I  gave  anything.' 
'Pray  do  not  regard  me  as  intrusive  or  unfriendly,' 
I  said,  'if  I  ask  one  more  question.  How  much 
have  you  given  during  the  last  year  for  the  work 
in  the  slums  of  the  great  cities,  or  even  of  our 
own?'  'Well,  'pon  my  word,  Quincy,  you've 
got  me  where  the  hair  is  short  this  morning.  I 
haven't  done  anything  directly  for  these  objects; 


82  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


but  I've  contributed  for  the  support  of  the  church, 
which  reaches  out  a  helping  hand  toward  these 
people,  doesn't  it?'  I  was  so  indignant  that  I 
pumped  him  still  farther,  until  I  found  out  what 
I  had  suspected,  that  his  '  support  of  the  church ' 
was  confined  to  two  sittings  in  a  pew  for  his  wife 
and  himself;  yet  the  man's  worth  every  bit  of  half 
a  milUon.  He  did  confess  to  a  Httle  shame  before 
I  left  him,  and  said,  '  We'll  have  to  look  into  these 
things,  Quincy.'  Poor  man!  He's  living  on 
husks  right  at  the  door  of  the  Father's  house." 

''I  suppose  we  shall  meet  with  objection  on 
the  part  of  some  of  our  teachers  to  taking  time 
from  the  regular  lessons,"  remarked  Mr.  Austin, 
nodding  his  head  sympathetically  yet  sadly  as 
he  recalled  his  own  former  attitude;  ^'so  I  hope 
that  we  can  get  the  time  out  of  the  opening  and 
closing  exercises,  or  by  prolonging  the  hour  a  few 
minutes.  Yet  we  must  use  every  means  to  con- 
vince teachers  and  pupils  that  the  new  feature 
we  are  introducing  is  not  extra-Biblical,  but, 
on  the  contrary,  the  very  embodiment  of  the 
whole  spirit  and  teaching  of  the  Bible,  too  largely 
lost  sight  of  in  an  attention  to  history  and  doctrine 
severed  from  their  practical  application,  or  that 
application  narrowed  by  defective  vision." 

''Well,  we'll  try  the  effect  of  some  'missionary 
atmosphere'  on  that  'defective  vision,'"  said 
George  Quincy,  as  Mr.  Austin  took  his  departure. 

Every  spare  moment  that  he  could  bestow  that 
week   Mr.   Quincy  gave   to  the  preparation   of 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  83 

''atmosphere,"  and  many  were  the  exclamations 
of  teachers  as  well  as  pupils  when  they  entered 
the  Sunday-school  room  the  next  Sabbath,  and 
their  eyes  were  greeted  with  a  great  map  of  the 
world  on  one  side  of  the  room,  indicating  by 
colors  all  the  prevailing  religions,  and  by  dots  all 
the  mission  stations.  On  the  other  side  of  the 
room  was  another  great  map  of  the  United  States 
and  her  colonies,  with  dots  to  indicate  all  the 
churches,  schools  and  colleges  maintained,  in 
whole  or  in  part,  by  the  various  boards  carrying 
on  the  different  departments  of  the  home  work. 
There  were  many  charts  requiring  study  for  full 
comprehension,  which  received  that  study  before 
and  after  school  for  many  months  to  come.  In 
large,  bold  letters,  visible  from  every  part  of  the 
room,  could  be  read  such  mottoes  as  these,  every 
one  supplying  food  for  thought  for  a  week, — 
or  a  lifetime: 

''God's  Promises  are  only  for  those  who  will 

CARRY  OUT  God's  Plans." 
"  Christ  is  either  Lord  of  all,  or  He  is  not  Lord 

at  all." 
"Partial  Obedience  means  Partial  Life." 
"The  Whole  Business  of  the  Whole  Church  is 

to  preach  the  Whole  Gospel  to  the  Whole 

World." 
"Love  never  asks  How  much  Must  I  Do,  but 

How  much  Can  I  Do?" 
"We  cannot  serve  God  and  Mammon,  but  we 

CAN  serve  God  with  Mammon." 
"The  more  Religion  we  Export,  the  more  we 

Possess." 


84  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

"Not  how  much  of  my  Money  will  I  give  to 
God,  but  how  much  of  God's  Money  will  I 
KEEP  FOR  Myself?" 

"The  Mission  of  the  Church  is  Missions." 

"  God  had  an  Only  Son,  and  He  was  a  Mission- 
ary." 

"I  place  no  value  on  anything  I  have  or  may 
possess,  except  in  its  relation  to  the 
Kingdom  of  Jesus  Christ." 

"The  greatest  Foes  of  Missions  are  Prejudice 
and  Indifference,  and  Ignorance  is  the 
Mother  of  them  both." 

"If  I  ought,  I  must:  if  I  must,  I  w^ll." 

"If  God  has  not  free  access  to  my  Purse,  Satan 

HAS." 

"Not  to  Consecrate  is  to  Desecrate." 
"Christ  still  sits  over  against  the  Treasury." 

Suspended  wherever  the  light  favored  were 
photographs  and  prints  of  famous  missionaries, 
at  home  and  abroad,  and  scenes  from  missionary 
Hfe. 

It  cannot  be  claimed  that  the  teachers  were 
able  to  hold  the  undivided  attention  of  their 
classes  that  day.  The  matter  had  been,  perhaps, 
overdone;  and  had  it  been  done  over  again,  the 
"missionary  atmosphere"  might  have  been  in- 
troduced by  degrees,  lest  it  prove  too  exhilarat- 
ing. The  superintendent  admitted  as  much  when 
he  called  the  school  to  order  at  the  close  of  the 
lesson  study,  and  thus  addressed  them : 

"Members  of  the  Sunday  school,  older  and 
younger,  I  can  see  that  we  have  almost  taken  your 
breath  away  to-day  with  all  our  new  maps  and 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  85 

charts  and  pictures  and  mottoes;  and  I  am  not 
sure  but  we  owe  an  apology  to  your  teachers  for 
drawing  away  considerable  attention  from  the 
lesson.  If  so,  I  trust  that  the  other  lesson  taught 
you  all  by  these  new  adornments  of  our  walls 
may  more  than  make  up  for  the  distraction. 
These  things  are  not  just  on  exhibition  for  one 
day,  but  are  to  stay  here,  for  this  is  no  more 
missionary  Sunday  than  every  other  Sunday  is 
to  be.  There  is  not  one  of  you  too  young  to 
know  something  about  the  change  that  has  come 
over  our  church  during  the  last  few  weeks,  and 
most  of  you  know  the  reason:  we  are  all  trying  to 
live  just  as  we  believe  we  should  live  if  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ  were  close  by  our  side,  morning,  noon 
and  night,  constantly  seen  by  our  eyes  and  heard 
by  our  ears,  and  we  could  feel  the  pressure  of  his 
hand.  Instead  of  trying  to  take  him  along  where- 
ever  we  want  to  go,  or  leave  him  behind  if  he 
does  not  wish  to  go,  we  ask  him  to  take  us  along 
wherever  he  wishes  to  go.  Instead  of  asking  him 
to  help  us  carry  out  our  plans,  we  ask  him  to 
make  us  strong  to  help  him  carry  out  his  plans, 
for,  as  this  motto  right  up  here  over  the  platform 
says, '  God's  promises  are  only  for  those  who  will 
carry  out  God's  plans. '  We  all  want  his  promises, 
don't  we,  especially  that  one,  'Lo,  I  am  with  you 
always,  even  unto  the  end  of  the  world'?  Do 
you  remember  to  what  people  that  promise  was 
made?  It  was  made  to  his  disciples  just  after 
Jesus  had  said  to  them,  '  Go  ye  into  all  the  world, 


WITH    YOU    ALW  A  Y  S 


and  preach  the  gospel  to  the  whole  creation.' 
Did  he  promise  to  be  with  them  if  they  would  not 
go?  No;  and  so  we  feel  sure  that  we  must  either 
ourselves  be  going  to  those  who  do  not  have 
the  gospel  of  Jesus,  or,  if  we  cannot  go  ourselves, 
must  be  giving  all  we  can  to  help  others  to  go, 
and  praying  for  the  success  of  their  work.  Then 
we  shall  be  carrying  out  God's  plans,  and  may 
with  assurance  expect  him  to  carry  out  all  his 
promises  to  us. 

"Now  we  older  people  do  not  want  you  boys 
and  girls  ever  to  be  so  foolish  and  ignorant  and 
wrong  as  we  have  been,  and  to  miss  so  many  of 
these  precious  promises;  so  we  are  going  to  have 
these  things  here  for  you  to  look  at,  are  going  to 
put  into  the  library  some  of  the  most  interesting 
books  that  you  have  ever  read,  and  are  going 
to  take  five  or  ten  minutes  every  Sunday  to  help 
you  to  understand  and  love  the  greatest  work  in 
the  world.  You  know  there  are  several  in  our 
school  who  are  planning  to  become  missionaries, 
and  I  am  going  to  ask  one  of  them,  Dr.  Corson, 
to  plan  for  the  best  use  of  our  missionary  minutes 
next  Sabbath." 

The  school  was  dismissed  after  a  missionary 
hymn  and  the  Lord's  Prayer,  with  such  strong 
emphasis  on  the  first  sentences  of  that  prayer 
that  some  were  startled  to  discover  that  it  was 
a  missionary  prayer.  So  interesting  proved  the 
new  wall  hangings  that  it  was  long  before  the 
room  was  deserted.     The  superintendent,  walk- 


WITH    YOU    ALWA  Y S  87 

ing  a  few  blocks  with  his  assistant  and  Dr. 
Corson,  remarked: 

"I  have  been  amazed  at  the  wealth  of  sugges- 
tion as  to  '  Missionary  Methods  for  Sunday-School 
Workers '  contained  in  a  little  book  by  that  name, 
which  I  have  just  run  across,  written  by  the  Sun- 
day-school secretary  of  our  foreign  board.  It 
will  fill  our  missionary  moments  for  years.  I'll 
pass  it  on  to  you  for  the  week,  Dr.  Corson, 
though  I  imagine  you  will  not  need  much  sugges- 
tion this  time." 

Gertrude  Austin  and  Grace  Wentworth  walked 
home  together  as  usual,  talking  animatedly  of  the 
impression  made  by  the  new  "atmosphere." 
Their  class  of  thirteen  girls,  from  sixteen  to 
eighteen,  had  voted  to  meet  at  the  Austin  home 
on  Saturday  afternoon,  to  consider  their  relation 
to  the  new  order. 

"Oh,  I  do  hope  they'll  all  come!"  said  Grace, 
who  had  inherited  her  father's  enthusiasm  and 
unselfishness.  "Did  you  see  Lena  Harden, 
Gertrude?  She  listened  with  all  her  ears  to  what 
your  father  was  saying  at  the  close  of  school; 
and  all  through  the  lesson  hour,  while  she 
answered  questions  all  right,  I  could  see  her 
looking  every  now  and  then  at  that  motto  over 
the  desk,  which  your  father  used  as  a  text. 
My,  but  wouldn't  Lena  make  a  fine  missionary, 
though,  if  she  once  got  the  missionary  spirit! " 

"Indeed  she  would,"  responded  Gertrude 
heartily;    "but  it  will  take  more  than  a  motto 


88  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

to  give  Lena  Harden  the  missionary  spirit;  and 
then,  you  know,  her  father  wouldn't  hsten  to  it 
for  a  minute.  She's  going  to  Wynmar  College 
this  fall,  and  when  she's  through  she  will  surely 
be  a  professor  somewhere,  if  she  does  not  marry 
some  man  of  wealth  and  position.  A  few  weeks 
ago  I  should  have  felt  that  Lena  was  altogether 
too  bright  and  attractive  to  go  as  a  missionary; 
but  I  am  going  to  tell  you,  Grace,  what  I  haven't 
told  a  soul  yet,  not  even  father:  that  if  my  brother 
Henry  were  not  planning  to  go  to  the  foreign  field, 
I  should  go  myself." 

''Why,  Gertrude  Austin,  you  don't  surely 
mean  it!  Somehow,  dear  and  sweet  as  you  are, 
I  never  thought  you  would  feel  that  you  could 
leave  your  beautiful  home  to  go  so  far,  and  for 
life.  Now  with  me  it's  different:  I  have  always 
been  accustomed  to  plain  living  and  planning  and 
patching;  and  I'd  just  love  to  go;  but  with 
mother  a  half  invalid  the  past  year,  and  half-a- 
dozen  younger  brothers  and  sisters  to  look  after, 
I  have  a  louder  call,  for  the  present,  at  least." 

"  My  duty  is  not  quite  so  plain  as  yours,  Grace, 
for  father  and  mother  are  both  strong  and  well, 
and  there  are  no  younger  children  to  look  after; 
but  Henry  and  I  are  all  father  and  mother  have; 
and  I  have  seen  something  of  what  it  means  to 
them  to  think  of  letting  Henry  go;  so  I  don't  feel 
as  if  it  would  be  right  even  to  mention  the  matter 
to  them  now.  And  I  am  only  eighteen,  and  have 
three  years  more  in  college;  so  I  am  going  to  keep 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  89 

my  little  secret  from  everyone  but  you  for  a  long 
time  to  come.  Pray  for  me,  dear,  that  I  may 
know  God's  will  very  clearly." 

**I  will  indeed,  Gertrude;  and  we  must  both 
pray  for  Lena  and  the  rest  of  the  class.  I  am  just 
eager  to  have  Saturday  come,  for  I  am  sure  more 
than  one  unexpected  thing  will  happen,"  replied 
Grace,  as  she  turned  down  a  side  street  and  was 
soon  at  home  and  singing  at  the  work  of  setting 
on  the  table  the  simple  Sunday  lunch  for  six 
hungry  boys  and  girls  younger  than  herself,  as 
well  as  for  father  and  mother. 

Saturday  came  at  length,  and  with  it  every 
last  one  of  the  thirteen  girls,  to  the  surprise  and 
gratification  of  Grace  and  Gertrude.  And  they 
were  all  prompt,  which  was  even  more  remark- 
able. For  several  years  the  class  had  main- 
tained an  organization  of  its  own;  for  two  years 
Gertrude  Austin  had  been  the  president  and 
Grace  Wentw^orth  the  secretary.  In  its  meet- 
ings, however,  there  was  little  observance  of 
parliamentary  rules,  nor  had  the  organization 
any  distinct  object,  save  to  cultivate  an  esprit  du 
corps  and  to  make  more  natural  their  frequent 
gatherings.  Some  of  the  closest  friendships  among 
them,  as  in  the  case  of  Gertrude  and  Grace,  were 
between  girls  upon  very  different  social  levels. 
There  were,  besides  Lena  Harden,  Gertrude  and 
Grace,  AUce  Stanhope  and  Julia  Marsh,  the 
former  the  daughter  of  a  multimillionaire,  the 
latter  of  a  poor  clerk;    yet  the  two  were  almost 


dO  WITH    YOU    ALWA  YS 

inseparable  at  school  or  at  home:  they  were  but 
sixteen;  the  Preston  twms,  Caroline  and  Cath- 
arine, seventeen  years  old,  were  full  of  fun  and 
always  to  be  found  together;  Beatrice  Stowell, 
strikingly  Uke  her  mother  in  face  and  manner; 
Constance  Ogden,  the  youngest  member  of  the 
class,  not  quite  sixteen;  Anna  Sears,  short  and 
plump  Hke  her  father;  Mary  Ransom,  quite  un- 
like her  father,  the  deacon,  petite  and  quiet; 
Helen  Talbot,  daughter  of  a  popular  druggist, 
and  Margery  Wilson,  the  only  child  of  the  sexton 
of  the  church,  completed  the  circle,  which  rather 
prided  itself  on  numbering  thirteen.  Their  dis- 
positions were  as  varied  as  their  social  conditions. 
When  the  meeting  had  been  called  to  order  by 
the  president,  she  said,  with  some  evident  diffi- 
dence, yet  with  conviction:  '^  Girls,  at  our 
meetings  we  have  never  been  in  the  habit  of 
opening  with  prayer,  perhaps  because  our  busi- 
ness has  usually  been  of  a  kind  which  didn't 
seem  worth  praying  about.  It  is  different  to-day, 
and  if  you  don't  mind,  we  will  just  bow  our  heads 
for  a  minute."  Silently  all  heads  were  bowed, 
and  then  Gertrude  said:  "Dear  Father  in  heaven, 
we  have  almost  all  acknowledged  thee  as  our 
Father,  and  Jesus  Christ  as  our  Saviour  and 
Master;  and  yet  somehow  we  have  not  realized 
how  much  that  acknowledgment  meant.  We 
fear  that  we  have  often  thought  of  thee  as  only 
in  heaven,  and  of  thy  Son  as  having  completed 
his  work  on  earth  and  now  away  off  there  at 


WITH    YOU    ALWA  YS  91 

thy  right  hand.  And  so  the  things  which  our 
eyes  see  and  our  hands  handle  have  been  the  chief 
interests  of  our  Uves;  and  our  following  of  Jesus 
has  been  little  more  than  keeping  from  great  sins, 
going  to  church  and  Sunday  school,  helping  with 
church  suppers  and  other  entertainments,  and 
taking  part  in  Christian  Endeavor  meetings.  We 
do  not  need  to  tell  thee  for  thou  knowest  all  about 
it;  and  even  yet  we  do  not  know  ourselves  very 
well.  But  oh  I  we  do  want  something  better! 
We  cannot  be  satisfied  till  every  one  of  our  class 
loves  Jesus  with  her  whole  heart;  and  then  we 
want,  every  one  of  us,  to  be  so  filled  with  the  love 
of  Jesus,  and  with  the  vision  of  Jesus  as  nearer 
and  dearer  than  any  earthly  friend,  that  the  one 
constant,  joyful,  determining  question  shall  be, 
'Lord,  what  wilt  thou  have  me  to  do?'  We  have 
come  here  to-day  to  ask  that  question,  and  to  be 
made  willing  to  follow  Jesus  whithersoever  he 
goes.     In  his  name  we  ask  it.     Amen." 

The  girls  had  all  heard  Gertrude  Austin  offer 
a  few  words  of  prayer  in  the  young  people's 
meeting  without  emotion ;  but  these  few  sentences, 
so  simple,  so  genuine,  so  contrite  and  so  tenderly 
intimate,  brought  tears  to  the  eyes  of  some  of  the 
circle,  and  made  an  impression  upon  everyone. 

"Now,  I  think,"  said  the  president,  ''that  we 
ought  to  know  one  another  well  enough  by  this 
time  to  be  perfectly  free  and  informal  in  talking 
about  these  matters  for  which  we  have  met  to- 
day, just  as  we  have  always  been  in  talking  about 


92  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

things  much  less  important.  I  am  sure  it  is  not 
possible  that  the  things  which  have  taken  place 
in  our  church  during  these  last  few  weeks  should 
have  been  entirely  without  influence  upon  us 
'giddy  girls,'  for  we  are  by  no  means  altogether 
'giddy.'  There  are  only  two  of  us  who  have  not 
yet  publicly  taken  Jesus  as  Lord,  and  I  feel  very 
sure  that  our  circle  will  be  complete  some  day 
in  that  respect,  as  it  is  in  so  many  others.  I  think 
it  would  be  awfully  nice  if  we  could  have  a  regular 
old-fashioned  testimony  meeting  before  we  do 
anything  else,  so  that  we  can  know  one  another's 
hearts.     What  do  you  say,  girls?" 

Beatrice  Stowell  had  been  sitting  for  some  time 
shading  her  eyes  with  her  hand;  but  at  this  ques- 
tion she  rose  at  once  to  her  feet,  glanced  about 
the  circle  with  the  tears  shining  in  her  eyes,  and 
then  startled  her  friends  by  saying  impetuously: 

"Girls,  I  can't  wait  for  anyone  else  to  speak, 
for  almost  every  one  of  you  is  so  far  ahead  of  me 
already  that  I've  simply  got  to  catch  up  a  little 
before  you  go  on  another  step.  You  can't 
imagine  what  a  fight  I  have  had  ever  since  my 
mother  got  up  in  church  that  night  and  talked 
about  her  'locked-up  missionaries.'  You  know 
I've  never  come  to  the  Lord's  Supper,  though  I 
have  called  myself  a  Christian;  and  the  great 
reason  has  been  simply  that  I  adored  the  society 
life  which  I  had  begun  to  share  with  mother  since 
I  came  out  a  year  ago.  Miss  Bemis  has  often 
asked  me  if  I  did  not  believe  on  Jesus  Christ  and 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  93 

want  to  let  others  know  it,  and  I  said,  Yes;  but 
I  wasn't  willing  to  make  public  confession  and 
come  to  the  Lord's  Supper.  Mr.  Stanton  too  has 
asked  me,  and  so  has  Gertrude  there.  I  never 
had  any  good  reason  to  give;  but  all  the  while  I 
knew  that  there  was  ringing  in  my  ears  a  verse 
from  the  Bible,  'Ye  cannot  drink  the  cup  of  the 
Lord,  and  the  cup  of  demons:  ye  cannot  partake 
of  the  table  of  the  Lord,  and  of  the  table  of 
demons.'  It  startled  me  so,  the  first  time  that  I 
noticed  it,  that  I  looked  it  up  to  see  if  it  had  any 
real  appKcation;  and  I  found  that  it  referred  to 
the  eating  of  food  offered  to  idols.  So  I  said  to 
myself,  'You  are  not  thinking  of  eating  food 
oflfered  to  idols,  so  that  has  nothing  to  do  with 
you.'  But  every  time  I  thought  of  coming  to  the 
Lord's  table,  back  would  come  that  verse,  and 
I  just  couldn't  put  it  out  of  my  mind.  Well, 
when  mother  made  her  speech  that  night,  I  was 
awfully  put  out  about  it,  because  I  foresaw  at  a 
glance  that  it  did  not  mean  merely  that  idle 
jewels  would  be  disposed  of  for  missions,  but  that 
mother  wouldn't  ha\'e  half  the  old  interest  in 
society.  Sure  enough,  she  didn't;  and  several 
times  I  have  had  to  go  off  with  some  friend  to 
get  what  I  craved.  But  that  was  not  the  only 
change  I  saw  in  mother :  her  very  face  was  trans- 
figured, her  step  was  lighter,  her  voice  was  softer, 
and  we  children  got  twice  the  time  and  twice  the 
loving  from  her  that  we  ever  had  before.  Within 
the  last  few  days  a  change  has  been  coming  over 


94  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

father,  too.  He  was  very  moody  for  a  number  of 
days,  and  didn't  like  to  have  mother  consult  him 
about  her  new  plans  for  the  use  of  her  money. 
'Do  what  you  Uke  with  your  own,  my  dear,'  was 
all  she  could  get  out  of  him.  But  the  last  two 
or  three  days  he  has  actually  taken  an  interest 
in  these  plans  and  offered  to  help  her  carry  them 
out!  Well,  the  wonder  of  it  has  been  growing 
on  me,  and  I  have  been  getting  nearer  and  nearer 
to  the  secret,  until  to-day,  when  Gertrude  was 
offering  that  beautiful  prayer,  it  all  suddenly 
flashed  over  me  that  the  verse  which  had  haunted 
me  had  a  very  real  appUcation  to  me  after  all, 
for  nine-tenths  of  my  social  Hfe  was  nothing  less 
than  a  feasting  on  the  meat  and  drink  offered  to 
idols.  There's  just  as  real  worship  of  Bacchus 
and  Terpsichore,  and  a  good  many  other  gods, 
as  there  ever  was  in  the  past,  and  I  have  been  one 
of  the  worshipers.  I  thank  God  that  he  did  not 
let  me  come  to  his  table.  But  I've  had  the  last 
of  the  cup  and  the  table  of  demons,  and  I  shall 
come  to  the  Lord's  table  at  the  first  opportunity. 
By  the  feeling  which  I  now  have  for  you,  girls, 
I  am  convinced  that  the  society  which  is  best 
worth  while  is  that  society  of  which  our  Lord 
Jesus  is  the  center.  Excuse  me  for  talking  so 
long;  but  I'm  a  new  creature." 

Most  loving  were  the  looks  with  which  she  was 
greeted  as  she  took  her  seat.  Giving  her  friends 
no  chance  to  catch  their  breath,  up  jumped  Anna 
Sears,  exclaiming:  ''You  needn't  think  I'm  going 


WITH    VOU    ALWAYS  95 

to  be  left  all  alone,  without  part  or  lot  in  this 
matter,  girls.  I  just  simply  haven't  realized  its 
importance  till  the  last  few  days.  Neither  papa 
nor  mama  has  ever  urged  me  to  join  the  church, 
thinking,  I  suppose,  that  it  would  be  time  enough 
when  I  was  through  with  my  education  and 
settled  down  somewhere.  The  other  day,  for 
the  first  time  in  my  life,  papa  gathered  us  all  to- 
gether after  breakfast,  and  said  he  hardly  knew 
how  to  do  it;  we'd  have  to  excuse  his  blunders; 
but  he  felt  we  ought  to  have  family  prayers. 
Mama  dropped  the  cup  she  held  in  her  hand  crash 
on  the  floor;  Dick  and  John  stared  as  if  they 
thought  papa  must  have  been  'struck  with  death,' 
as  his  family  said  about  the  old  deacon  in  the 
story;  but  we  all  sat  down.  Papa  read  a  chapter 
and  then  made  a  prayer.  Just  think,  girls,  I 
never  before  had  heard  my  father  pray,  though 
he  had  been  a  member  of  the  church  ever  since 
he  was  a  boy!  It  wasn't  what  you  would  call 
an  elegant  prayer,  but  it  was  decidedly  eloquent, 
I  can  assure  you.  After  confessing  all  his  own 
sins,  he  prayed  for  each  one  of  us  by  name, 
that  we  might  be  kept  from  making  his  mistakes 
and  might  everyone  take  a  stand  as  a  faithful 
follower  of  Jesus  Christ,  even  unto  the  uttermost 
parts  of  the  earth.  I  never  saw  my  father  cry 
before,  either;  but  there  were  sobs  in  his  voice 
as  he  prayed  and  tears  in  his  eyes  when  he  arose; 
and  he  went  to  his  office  without  another  word 
to    anyone.     We    didn't    say    anything    to    one 


96  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

another,  either.  But  I  have  been  thinking  ever 
since;  and  now  here  this  afternoon,  I  want  to  tell 
you  girls,  first  of  all,  that  I  have  taken  Jesus  as  my 
Saviour,  and  mean  to  follow  him  no  matter  where 
he  leads  me." 

As  if  by  one  impulse,  the  other  twelve  girls 
rose  to  their  feet,  all  grasped  one  another's  hands 
in  a  circle  and  sang : 

Blest  be  the  tie  that  binds 

Our  hearts  in  Christian  love: 
The  fellowship  of  kindred  minds 

Is  like  to  that  above. 

After  they  were  seated,  Lena  Harden,  the  bril- 
liant, the  precise  member  of  the  circle,  keyed 
interest  to  the  highest  point  when  she  began  to 
speak,  saying: 

"The  officers  of  our  Sunday  school  may  have 
interfered  somewhat  with  the  study  of  our  regular 
lesson,  last  Sunday,  by  their  extensive  innovation; 
but  ^^'ith  one  person  at  least  they  succeeded  in 
impressing  an  irregular  lesson  in  such  a  w^ay  as  to 
change  a  life.  Perhaps  it  might  not  be  wise, 
as  a  rule,  to  introduce  so  much  that  is  new  to 
attract  the  eye  at  once;  but  in  this  case  they  must 
have  been  di\'inely  led  to  do  so,  for  I  do  not  think 
that  any  one,  or  two,  or  even  half  dozen,  of  those 
new  things  would  have  begun  to  make  the  im- 
pression on  me  that  was  made  by  the  accumula- 
tion of  testimony,  all  bearing  in  the  same  direc- 
tion. If  I  turned  my  head,  and  tried  to  turn  my 
mind,  away  from  one  of  those  mottoes  or  charts, 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  97 


I  immediately  met  another  conveying  the  same 
truth,  or  a  different  phase  of  the  one  truth. 
Finally  your  father,  Gertrude,  called  attention 
to  the  very  motto  to  which  my  eyes  had  been 
drawn  again  and  again;  and  by  the  time  he  was 
through,  those  words  had  been  graven  on  my  very 
soul.  Just  as  soon  as  I  had  reached  home  and 
eaten  dinner,  I  went  to  my  room,  and  never 
did  another  thing  that  afternoon  but  think, 
'  God's  promises  are  only  for  those  who  will  carry 
out  God's  plans.'  It  was  plain  enough,  reason- 
able enough,  and  surely  must  be  true.  How 
could  anyone  ever  expect  anything  else?  Yet 
I  was  keenly  conscious  that  I  had  been  ex- 
pecting God  to  fulfill  his  promises  of  good  to 
me,  while  I  scarcely  thought  to  inquire  as  to  his 
plans  for  me.  I  had  accepted  all  his  loving-kind- 
ness as  a  matter  of  course;  and  it  had  hardly 
occurred  to  me  to  ask  what  I  might  do  to  show  my 
love  to  him.  There  ran  through  my  head  that 
line  of  a  hymn,  'You  treat  no  other  friend  so  ill,' 
and  those  others,  'Love  so  amazing,  so  divine. 
Demands  my  soul,  my  life,  my  all.' 

''At  the  prayer  meeting,  Wednesday  night," 
continued  Lena,  ''  I  was  still  wondering  what  it  all 
meant  for  me,  when  another  of  those  mottoes,  the 
one  on  love's  expression,  looked  down  from  the  wall 
upon  me  and  wove  itself  into  the  thought  of  the 
meeting:  'Love  never  asks  how  much  must  I  do, 
but  how  much  can  I  do?'  And  the  answer  came, 
if  ever  a  girl  was  free  to  plan  for  herself,  after  her 
7 


98  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

education  is  complete  and  she  is  of  age,  I  am.  No 
need  to  work  for  the  support  of  my  family,  or  even 
of  myself;  plenty  of  other  children  to  look  after  our 
parents  if  I  should  be  called  away;  a  sound  body 
and  a  fairly  sound  mind.  Then  my  eye  lighted  on 
that  banner  of  Ian  Keith  Falconer, '  While  vast  con- 
tinents are  shrouded  in  almost  utter  darkness  and 
hundreds  of  milHons  suffer  the  horrors  of  heathen- 
ism and  of  Islam,  the  burden  of  proof  rests  on  you 
to  show  that  the  circumstances  in  which  God  has 
placed  you  were  meant  by  God  to  keep  you  out  of 
the  foreign  field.'  The  only  circumstance  I  could 
urge  was  that  my  parents  would  be  bitterly 
opposed  to  my  going.  I  need  not  settle  now  my 
final  attitude  toward  that  opposition,  as  it  will 
be  four  or  five  years  before  I  could  think  of  going 
anyway.  Then  I  looked  up  and  saw,  'If  I 
ought,  I  must:  if  I  must,  I  will,'  and  I  said  to 
Jesus,  'If  you  w^ant  me,  here  am  I;  send  me.' 
Next  day  I  couldn't  keep  it  from  mother,  though 
I  thought  she  would  feel  dreadfully.  She  just 
folded  me  in  her  arms  and  held  me  close;  but 
between  her  choking  sobs  I  heard  her  say,  'My 
daughter,  a  week  ago  I  should  have  forbidden 
you  ever  to  speak  or  think  of  this  again;  but  a 
few  days  ago  I  had  a  visit  from  Mrs.  Ogden, 
who  revealed  my  Sa\'iour  to  me  in  such  a  way 
that,  shrink  though  I  do  from  the  unspeakably 
great  sacrifice,  I  yet  can  thank  God  that  he  has 
given  me  a  daughter  who  wishes  to  consecrate 
herself   absolutely   to   his   service.'     I   tell  you, 


W  I  Til    Y  O  U    A  L  W  A  Y  S  99 


girls,  in  getting  nearer  to  Jesus,  I  got  nearer  to 
my  mother  than  I  ever  had  in  my  Ufe  before. 
A  hundred  things  may  happen  in  the  next  four 
years,  but  I  am  headed  toward  the  mission  field." 
The  feeling  was  growing  intense,  but  the  strain 
was  somewhat  relieved  by  the  next  young  speaker, 
Catharine  Preston,  who  beamed  on  her  com- 
panions as  she  said:  "This  is  just  heavenly, 
girls;  and  it's  too  bad  to  come  back  to  earth 
again  so  suddenly;  but  however  many  of  us  may 
be  able  some  day  to  go  as  missionaries, — wouldn't 
dare  to  say  I  mayn't  go  myself, — m.y  mind  has 
been  running  on  our  present-day  responsibilities 
in  this  matter  of  our  Lord's  work.  Of  course  it 
goes  without  saying  that  there's  lots  to  do  right 
here  in  our  own  city  for  the  poor,  the  neglected 
and  the  ignorant;  and  I  think  we  might  offer 
our  services  to  our  deacons  for  this  work  of  per- 
sonal ministry  now.  But  there's  one  of  those 
charts  that  has  kodaked  itself  on  my  brain  until  it 
fairly  makes  me  reel:  do  you  remember  it,  girls? 

'"HOW  AMERICANS  SPEND  THEIR  MONEY 

Intoxicating  liquors $2,000,000,000 

Tobacco 1 ,200,000,000 

Jewelry  and  plate 800,000,000 

Automobiles 500,000,000 

Church  work  at  home 250,000,000 

Confectionery 200,000,000 

Soft  drinks .'. 1  20,000,000 

Tea  and  coffee 100,000,000 

Millinery 90,000,000 

Patent  medicines 80,000,000 

Chewing  gum 13,000,000 

Foreign  missions 1 2,000,000 


100  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

Nothing  is  said  of  the  necessities,  such  as  food, 
clothing,  houses,  lands,  education,  or  of  books, 
even  the  purely  amusing  sort,  or  of  theater  and 
opera,  or  of  travel.  So  it  amounts  to  over  five 
billion  dollars  a  year  for  what  may  fairly  be 
called  luxuries,  a  quarter  of  a  billion  for  the  church 
in  America,  and  only  twelve  millions  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  Christ's  kingdom  in  all  the  rest  of  the 
world.  Yet  America  is  doing  better  than  any 
other  country.  Think  of  it,  girls,  fifty  dollars 
a  year  from  every  man,  woman  and  child  for 
self-indulgence,  two  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for 
Christ  in  America,  and  twelve  cents  for  the  saving 
of  the  world  I  Now,  I  have  been  wondering  how 
far  we  girls  are  responsible  for  this  most  humiliat- 
ing fact.  I  know  some  people  don't  like  to  have 
any  suggestions  made  along  this  line;  they  call 
them  petty,  impertinent,  too  personal;  but  I 
am  sure  the  Devil  invented  those  terms  to  get  us 
to  pay  no  attention  to  one  of  our  worst  sins. 
And  I  am  going  to  propose  that  we  each  make  up 
an  estimate  of  our  own  expenses  for  the  last 
quarter,  and  see  where  we  stand;  will  you  do  it?" 
After  some  shoulder-shrugging  and  exclama- 
tions of  horror,  the  novelty  of  the  idea  and  the 
real  seriousness  of  the  whole  question  secured  a 
unanimous  agreement.  With  a  beautiful  prayer 
of  thanksgiving,  consecration  and  assurance  of 
blessing  by  Grace  Wentworth,  the  meeting  came 
to  a  close  with  many  still  to  be  heard  from.  It 
was  an  epoch-making  meeting  for  the  class. 


CHAPTER  V 

A    MISSIONARY    PRAYER    PROGRAMME 

THERE  was  nothing  spasmodic  about  the 
new  interest  in  the  midweek  prayer  meet- 
ing at  Westminster  Church:  it  had  been 
too  spontaneous  for  that.  On  that  first  notable 
Wednesday  evening  curiosity  had  brought  many; 
but  profound  interest,  and  the  new  reaUzation 
of  the  presence  of  Christ,  had  brought  more. 
The  mere  curiosity-seekers,  of  course,  with  the 
exception  of  those  in  whose  hearts  curiosity  had 
turned  to  conviction,  soon  ceased  to  attend;  but 
each  recurring  week  had  seen  fully  two-thirds 
of  the  members  of  the  church  at  the  meeting. 
Other  engagements  were  no  longer  made  for  that 
evening  by  Christian  people;  visiting  friends 
were  brought  along  to  the  meeting  as  a  matter 
of  course;  a  movement  was  on  foot  among  the 
promoters  of  lectures  and  concerts  to  arrange 
the  dates  for  other  evenings  than  Wednesday, 
lest  they  lose  the  patronage  of  Westminster 
Church  people.  At  a  meeting  of  the  session, 
early  in  the  week  following  the  gathering  of  Miss 
Bemis'  girls  just  recorded,  it  had  been  decided 
that  if  the  opening  up  of  all  the  classrooms  for 
the  overflow  of  the  prayer  meeting  did  not  suffice 
for  the  growing  company,  the  meeting  should  be 
thereafter  held  regularly  in  the  main  auditorium. 
101 


102  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

Wednesday  night  was  a  beautiful  night,  and  the 
few  who  came  late  found  only  standing  room  until 
seats  were  brought  for  them  from  another  part 
of  the  church.  Surely  never  did  pastor,  unless 
it  be  in  Korea,  look  forth  upon  a  gladder  sight 
than  did  the  Reverend  John  Stanton  on  that 
Wednesday  evening.  His  face  fairly  beamed 
with  the  joy  of  it  as  he  gave  out  the  first  hymn, 
that  dear,  old-fashioned  " Sweet  Hour  of  Prayer"; 
and  a  great  volume  of  praise  rolled  upward  to  the 
Hearer  and  Answerer  of  prayer.  Then  all  heads 
were  bowed  as  the  pastor  gave  expression  to  the 
feelings  of  all: 

''O  Thou  to  whose  immeasurable  love  we  owe 
this  sweet  hour  of  prayer,  it  is  thy  children's 
hour.  In  no  possible  way  can  we  thank  thee 
adequately  for  this  privilege,  greater  than  any 
which  the  kings  of  the  earth  can  confer  upon  their 
most  honored  subjects,  for  thou  art  King  of 
kings  and  Lord  of  lords.  Yet  thou  dost  not  so 
much  summon  us  here  as  thy  subjects,  but  rather 
in\dte  us  as  thy  children,  to  commune  with  thee 
in  no  formal,  ceremonial  way,  but  heart  to  heart. 
We  have  said  our  prayers  in  the  days  of  our  child- 
hood; we  have  made  prayers  in  the  days  of  our 
manhood;  we  have  offered  prayers  in  the  per- 
formance of  ofificial  functions:  Father,  teach  us 
simply  to  pray,  to  pour  out  our  hearts  before 
thee  in  sincere  worship,  in  humble  confession, 
in  earnest  supplication,  in  loving  intercession, 
in  unquestioning  trust.     Teach  us  the  simplicity 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  103 

of  prayer  and  the  limitless  power  of  prayer. 
Teach  us  to  pray  as  our  Master  prayed,  not 
that  thou  wouldest  do  our  will,  but  that  thou 
wouldest  enable  us  to  do  thy  will,  because  it  is 
the  one  perfect  and  altogether  beautiful  thing 
in  the  world.  May  we  pray  about  the  great 
things  of  life  because  nothing  is  too  great  for 
thee;  may  we  pray  about  the  apparently  trifling 
little  things  of  Ufe  in  the  consciousness  that  even 
our  eating  and  drinking  concern  the  greatest  thing 
in  the  world,  the  glory  of  God.  And  more 
especially  to-night  we  ask  thee  that  thou  wilt 
impress  us  with  the  hopelessness  of  our  attempts 
to  work  for  thee  unless  we  secure  for  ourselves, 
and  those  for  whom  we  pray,  the  wisdom  and 
power  of  thy  Holy  Spirit,  given  only  in  answer 
to  believing  prayer.  May  our  new  life  of  fellow- 
ship with  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  express  itself  and 
perfect  itself  in  prayer,  and  so,  while  giving  or 
going,  may  we  'move  the  arm  that  moves  the 
world'  on  behalf  of  that  work  dearest  to  thy 
heart — the  speedy  evangelization  of  the  world. 
In  thy  Son's  name.  Amen." 

Another  old  familiar  hymn,  ''The  Mercy  Seat," 
was  sung,  and  then  the  pastor  said: 

"More  than  six  hundred  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren of  Jaconsett  coming  together  simply  to 
pray!  The  power  of  it,  the  possibility  of  it, 
simply  thrill  one  through  and  through!  No 
urging  has  brought  you  here,  no  compulsion  of 
any  kind  except  the  compulsion  of  a  strong  desire 


104  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

for  fellowship  with  one  another  and  with  our 
Lord  and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ.  You  feel  with 
me  that,  while  we  are  realizing  more  and  more 
perfectly  his  constant  companionship  with  each 
one  of  us  everywhere,  yet  he  comes  in  special 
manner,  we  hear  more  distinctly  the  rustle  of 
his  seamless  robe  and  the  accents  of  his  loving 
voice,  when  we  are  thus  gathered  in  his  name, 
like  the  disciples  in  the  upper  room.  Our  theme 
to-night  is  'The  Potency  of  Prayer.'  I  have  my 
chance  to  talk  on  Sundays:  there  are  scores 
here  from  whom  we  should  like  to  hear  a  word 
of  experience  or  a  word  of  prayer;  so  I  shall  do 
nothing  more  than  start  your  thought  with  regard 
to  the  relation  of  prayer  to  that  matter  which 
has  come  to  mean  so  much  to  us,  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world.  Christ  said,  'Pray  ye  there- 
fore the  Lord  of  the  harvest,  that  he  send  forth 
laborers  into  his  harvest.'  That  means  both 
men  and  money.  But  does  not  God  know  that 
the  laborers  are  needed,  and  that  it  will  take 
money  to  send  them?  What  is  the  use  of  praying 
him?  Should  we  not  rather  pray  men  to  go  and 
men  to  give,  for  the  men  have  the  wills  and  the 
means?  And  so  we  do;  but  the  Holy  Spirit, 
in  answer  to  our  importunate  and  passionate 
prayer  to  God,  can  make  our  prayer  to  men  ten- 
fold more  effective  than  it  would  otherwise  have 
been;  while  the  chances  are  not  small  that,  in 
the  very  act  of  prayer,  the  question  will  come 
pressing  home  to  the  one  who  prays.  How  is 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  105 


it  with  your  life,  your  time,  your  money?  Why 
should  you  not  be  among  the  laborers,  or  your 
means  supporting  them  as  they  go  forth  to  their 
toil?  The  personal  call  has  come  to  many  a  man 
while  he  has  been  praying  in  an  impersonal  way 
for  some  one  to  meet  the  crying  need. 

''Let  us,  therefore,  Christian  friends,  recognize 
the  primacy  of  prayer  among  the  forces  which 
make  for  the  evangelization  of  the  world,  as  the 
connecting  link  through  which  the  weakness  and 
foolishness  of  man  lay  hold  upon  the  power  and 
the  wisdom  of  God,  and  that  which  is  in  itself 
utterly  insufficient  becomes  sufficient  for  all 
things.  It  is  the  only  force  which  can  quicken 
information  into  inspiration,  transmute  interest 
into  passion,  crystallize  emotion  into  self-sur- 
render and  coin  enthusiasm  into  dollars  and  lives. 
And  whatever  may  be  the  contribution  of  any 
man  to  the  work  of  Christ  in  the  way  of  money 
or  service,  he  has  not  performed  his  full  duty, 
exerted  his  largest  influence,  nor  enjoyed  his 
highest  privilege,  until  he  has  made  definite, 
believing  prayer  for  the  work  a  part  of  his  daily 
life.  I  am  hoping  that  our  church  will  henceforth 
have  a  definite  programme  of  prayer  for  missions. 
Let  us  devote  one  of  our  prayer  meetings  each 
month  specifically  to  this  duty  and  privilege;  it 
shall  not  be  forgotten  in  the  pulpit;  let  us  not 
forget  it  in  our  families  and  in  our  closets.  To  aid 
in  this  direction,  the  Laymen's  Missionary  Move- 
ment has  prepared  a  series  of  topics  for  special 


106  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

prayer  for  each  month,  which  will  be  printed 
hereafter  on  the  backs  of  the  envelopes  which  we 
are  to  use  for  our  regular  benevolent  offerings. 
But  we  need  not  confine  ourselves  to  these  topics. 
Now,  who  is  the  first  to  have  a  word  for  us,  or 
to  voice  our  aspirations?" 

"Well,  friends,  this  is  the  first  time  you  have 
ever  heard  my  voice  in  meeting,"  spoke  up  Mr. 
Samuel  Austin,  rising  briskly  to  his  feet,  "unless 
it  was  a  business  meeting  to  decide  on  the 
preacher's  salary,  or  something  of  that  sort. 
But  I  got  up  first  to-night  because  I  was  afraid 
that  after  the  rest  of  you  once  began  there  would 
be  no  chance  for  me.  Perhaps  you  will  hardly 
beUeve  me,  but  I  rise  to  testify  to  the  power  of 
prayer.  Probably  you  all  know  that  I  have 
always  been  rather  skeptical  with  regard  to  the 
supernatural,  although  I  have  never  been  able 
to  reason  myself  away  from  a  behef  in  the  deity 
of  Christ  and  the  reality  of  his  virgin  birth  and 
resurrection.  But  prayer  has  never  seemed  to 
me  reasonable,  except  as  an  act  of  worship  with  a 
subjective  benefit  in  the  preparing  of  the  soul  to 
do  and  to  endure.  As  you  know,  too,  foreign 
missions  have  never  appealed  to  me,  because  I 
never  thought  that  we  had  enough  more  in  our 
religion  than  other  people  had  in  theirs  to  justify 
the  great  expense;  and  I  shouldn't  wonder  if  it 
was  true  as  to  the  kind  of  Christianity  I  had; 
it  wasn't  of  the  kind  that  is  worth  exporting.  I 
was  present   on   that   Foreign   Mission   Sunday 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  107 


morning,  but  thought  the  service  hysterical  and 
would  not  attend  the  other  two  meetings.  But 
I  heard  of  my  brother's  words  and  pledges,  and 
of  my  nephew's  consecration  of  himself,  with 
regret  amounting  to  disgust.  Perhaps,  if  I  had 
been  there  and  heard  their  words,  I  should  have 
felt  differently.  At  any  rate  I  gave  my  brother 
an  awful  blowing  up  for  losing  his  head  and  letting 
his  son  sacrifice  a  brilliant  career.  All  he  said 
was:  'Well,  Sam,  you'll  never  be  really  happy 
until  you  lose  your  head  in  the  same  way;  and 
I  am  praying  for  you  every  morning  and  night 
that  you  may  lose  it  soon.  And  as  for  careers, 
there's  none  higher  in  this  world  than  that  of 
ambassador  for  Jesus  Christ.  You  will  see  it 
some  day,  just  as  surely  as  I  am  praying  for  you.' 
I  turned  away,  more  indignant  than  ever;  but 
I  found  that  while  I  could  get  away  from  my 
brother,  I  could  not  get  away  from  his  prayers. 
The  Spirit  of  the  Lord  just  laid  hold  of  me  and 
overthrew  one  of  my  objections  after  another, — 
there  is  no  time  to  tell  it  in  detail,— until  I  not 
only  lost  my  head  but  my  heart  also,  and  all  that 
in  me  is,  to  that  Great  Son  of  God,  who,  as  he 
goes  forth  to  war,  shall  henceforth  have  me  in  his 
train." 

This  was  news  even  to  the  elder  brother,  who 
ejaculated  fervently,  ''Praise  the  Lord!" 

"I  am  another  of  the  members  of  this  church 
who  never  took  part  in  an  'experience  meeting' 
before,"  said  Mr.  Stowell,  as  he  rose  from  his 


108  WITH    Y  OU    ALWAYS 

unaccustomed  seat  in  this  midweek  meeting, 
where  many  had  marveled  to  see  him  sitting  with 
his  wife,  their  son  and  two  daughters.  "And 
I  hardly  know  how  to  do  it,  although  there  can  be 
no  doubt  about  my  having  had  an  experience, 
and  a  sufficiently  novel  one  also — for  me.  Until 
a  few  days  ago  I  was  the  most  uncomfortable  man 
in  this  city,  I  am  sure.  I  have  been  fleeing  from 
home  to  get  away  from  my  wife,  and  fleeing  from 
my  office  to  get  away  from  Elder  Gilbert  over 
yonder.  Yet  the  curious  thing  about  it  was  that 
neither  my  wife  nor  Mr.  Gilbert  was  pursuing  me. 
My  wife  has  never  exhorted  me  at  all;  and  Mr. 
Gilbert  has  not  talked  to  me  more  than  five  min- 
utes at  any  one  time  in  the  last  two  weeks;  but 
from  the  time  I  first  learned  of  Mrs.  Stowell's 
remarks  at  that  extraordinary  meeting,  and 
began  to  see  the  remarkable  changes  which  have 
come  over  her,  I  began  to  be  desperately  uncom- 
fortable at  home.  The  first  time  I  met  Elder 
Gilbert,  a  few  days  after  he  came  home,  I  couldn't 
tempt  him  with  a  cigar,  and  he  talked  some  most 
revolutionary  philosophy.  Two  days  later  I 
met  him  again,  and  he  simply  said,  'Stowell, 
you  and  I  have  often  talked  about ''  pragmatism"; 
there's  a  new  kind  of  pragmatism  coming  into 
vogue  that  has  laid  hold  of  me  with  such  a  grip 
that  I  couldn't  shake  it  off  if  I  would;  and  I 
wouldn't  if  I  could,  for  it  is  the  best  ever.  Talk 
about  the  ''value- judgments"  in  theology!  If 
men  would  only  be  content  with  God's  value- 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  109 


judgments  there,  and  give  themselves  to  the  dis- 
covery of  what  he  says  in  his  word  about  relative 
values  in  e\-eryday  life,  we  should  have  some 
pragmatism  that  is  worth  while.  Two  out  of 
three  of  the  members  of  our  churches  do  not 
really  believe  their  souls  are  of  more  value  than 
their  bodies,  so  how  should  they  beUeve  that 
the  soul  of  another  man,  especially  a  far-away 
heathen,  is  of  more  importance  than  their  own 
physical  indulgence?  But  the  change  is  coming, 
Stowell;  it  has  begun  already  in  our  church; 
and,  as  an  old  friend  of  yours,  I  never  shall  be 
satisfied  until  my  prayer  for  you  is  answered, 
and  you  join  the  new  movement  heart  and  soul — 
and  bank  account.'  With  that,  off  he  went; 
but  I  kept  meeting  him  everywhere,  and  though 
he  never  said  another  word  on  the  subject,  I 
knew  he  was  praying  for  me.  Then,  one  morn- 
ing after  I  had  started  for  the  office,  I  returned 
for  a  forgotten  paper  and  surprised  my  \\i(e  on 
her  knees  praying  aloud  for  me,  that  my  eyes 
might  be  opened  to  see  Jesus  Christ  as  she  had 
seen  him.  I  stole  avvay  without  my  paper;  but 
the  next  morning  I  startled  my  family  by  gather- 
ing them  together  for  family  worship,  and  for  the 
first  time  in  their  lives  they  heard  their  father's 
voice  in  prayer.  Elder  Gilbert's  pragmatism  is 
better  than  the  most  gilt-edged  stock  I  know 
anything  about.  I  have  come  to  realize  as  never 
before  how  often  the  floating  of  a  stock  is  the 
sinking  of  a  man.     The  stock  is  all  right  as  the 


no  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

means  to  a  higher  end, — which  it  shall  henceforth 
be  with  me, — but  as  an  end  in  itself  it  is  just  as 
effective  a  sinker  as  a  ton  of  lead.  P'riends,  just 
try  to  forget  the  old  Stowell,  and  take  me  into 
everything  that  is  doing  along  the  new  Hne.  I 
am  going  to  follow  my  wife's  example  and  set 
free  some  of  the  locked-up  missionaries.  Just 
keep  on  praying,  and  there  won't  be  one  of  them 
left  in  the  safe-deposit  vaults  of  Jaconsett." 

"I'll  not  take  many  minutes  for  my  testimony," 
declared  Deacon  Thorne,  as  he  hastened  to  take 
Mr.  Stowell's  place  on  the  floor;  "but  a  deacon 
who  has  not  been  a  man  full  of  faith  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  certainly  needs  to  set  himself  right 
before  the  people  who  elected  him  to  the  office. 
There  has  been  little  in  me  of  the  spirit  of  Stephen 
and  Philip.  I  have  helped  to  divide  up  the  offer- 
ings of  the  church  among  the  poor;  but  I  know 
I  have  made  the  recipients  feel  that  it  was  the 
dole  of  charity  rather  than  the  ministry  of  love. 
But  for  the  Samaritans  and  the  Ethiopians  I  have 
had  no  use  at  all,  having  a  sort  of  idea  that  they 
would  be  looked  after  by  the  '  uncovenanted 
mercies '  of  God,  if  he  thought  them  worth  looking 
after  at  all.  At  any  rate,  they  were  no  concern 
of  mine,  for  my  field  of  labor  was  the  poor  of 
Jaconsett;  and  when  the  quarterly  dole  was 
complete  my  duty  to  my  fellow-man  was  done 
and  I  need  think  of  nothing  but  my  business  and 
my  social  engagements.  As  you  know,  I  was 
not  at  home  when  Christ  so  remarkably  revealed 


WITH    VOU    ALWAYS  HI 

himself  to  our  church;  but  I  was  so  fortunate  as 
to  be  caught  growHng  and  joking  over  the  matter 
with  some  friends,  by  our  pastor,  who,  with  a 
very  few  words,  opened  my  eyes  to  what  Mr. 
Stowell  has  just  been  talking  about,  the  real 
values  of  life.  The  poor  of  our  own  parish  never 
had  half  so  w^arm  a  place  in  my  heart  before  as 
they  have  now  that  I  have  come  to  take  an  inter- 
est in  the  Indians  and  the  Esquimaux  and  the 
Mormons  and  the  Freedmen  and  the  Mountain 
Whites  and  the  Chinese  and  the  Africans.  It 
seems  as  if  my  heart  had  not  only  grown  larger 
and  larger  as  each  of  these  was  admitted,  but 
softer  and  more  sympathetic  at  the  same  time. 
Speaking  of  deacons,  what  do  you  think  of  this 
advertisement,  which  I  found  in  the  paper  to-day: 

" '  St.  Stephen's  Euchre  To-morrow 
The  ladies  of  St.  Stephen's  Church 
will  hold  a  euchre  to-morrow  evening. 
The  prizes  will  consist  of  the  articles 
which  were  left  over  from  the  fair  which 
closed  last  week.  The  admission  will  be 
taken  at  the  door.' 

What  makes  you  all  smile?  Don't  you  think 
St.  Stephen  would  be  delighted  to  preside  as 
patron  saint  over  a  euchre  party  for  the  benefit 
of  the  church  which  was  named  in  his  honor 
and  which  was  smart  enough  to  think  of  such  an 
admirable  way  to  dispose  of  the  unsalable  articles 
from  the  church  fair?  Our  Romanist  friends  are 
just  a  degree  more  clever,  and  establish  'The 


112  WITE    YOU    ALWAYS 

Brewery  of  the  Holy  Spirit.'  That  wouldn't 
have  shocked  our  fathers,  two  or  three  hundred 
years  ago;  and  'St.  Stephen's  Euchre'  wouldn't 
have  seriously  shocked  some  of  us  a  few  weeks 
since.  But  it  makes  even  the  printer's  devil 
smile  and  think  thoughts  that  are  not  to  the  glory 
of  God.  Yet  a  good  part  of  my  life  as  deacon 
has  been  of  a  piece  with  'St.  Stephen's  Euchre,' 
a  sacred  label  on  a  pretty  thoroughly  profane 
thing.  Thanks  to  the  efforts  of  our  pastor,  and 
the  prayers  of  Deacon  Ransom  and  the  rest  of 
you,  that's  all  gone  by." 

"I  am  glad  you  mentioned  the  prayers  of 
Deacon  Ransom,  rather  than  his  efforts,"  said 
that  person  himself;  "for  he  hasn't  ventured 
to  do  anything  for  you  except  to  pray.  How 
you  knew  I  was  praying,  I  am  sure  I  don't  know^ 
unless  you  kind  o'  saw  it  in  my  face  when  I 
wanted  to  speak  but  didn't  dare  to,  for  fear  I 
should  make  a  botch  of  it.  Well,  friends,  you've 
been  jokingly  calling  me  'Deacon  Philip'  these 
last  weeks,  and  it  has  rather  pleased  me,  though 
I  knew  I  wasn't  worthy  of  it.  And  now  we've 
got  a  Deacon  Stephen,  too;  and  a  right  good  one 
he'll  make,  now  that  he's  come  actually  to  love 
the  widows  and  the  orphans  and  the  heathen. 
I'm  just  that  full  of  joy  and  thanksgiving  that  I 
think  we'd  better  pray:  Dear  Heavenly  Father, 
we  can  hardly  get  our  breath  right  natural  yet, 
after  all  the  good  news  that's  been  coming  to  us, 
to  tell  thee  how  much  we  thank  thee  for  answer- 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  113 

ing  our  prayers  in  this  perfectly  wonderful  way. 
We  thought  we  had  a  big  blessing  already;  but 
we  knew  there  were  some  in  our  church  that 
hadn't  got  it;  and  it  tasted  so  good  we  wanted 
them  to  have  some  too.  And  now,  bless  the 
Lord!  they're  a-coming  one  by  one,  the  men  for 
w^hom  we've  been  praying,  the  men  who  with 
lots  of  money  have  been  starving,  and  the  men 
who  doled  out  dollars  but  not  hearts;  and  thou 
hast  fed  them  and  warmed  them  and  made  their 
hearts  glow  with  a  new  life.  It's  just  wonderful, 
wonderful,  Lord!  But  we're  not  satisfied  yet. 
Thou  hast  said  that  if  we  ask,  thou  wilt  give; 
and  we  are  going  to  keep  on  asking  until  every 
member  of  our  church  gets  the  vision  of  the  ever- 
present  Christ,  and  begins  life  over  again  in 
fellowship  with  his  Lord.  Oh,  may  that  happy 
day  come  quickly.     For  Jesus'  sake.  Amen." 

''Let  us  continue  in  prayer,"  said  Elder  Gilbert. 
''We  are  indeed  thankful  to  thee,  our  Heavenly 
Father,  our  blessed  Lord  Jesus,  and  our  wonder- 
working Spirit,  whose  three  persons  in  one  great 
unity  seem  so  much  more  real  to  us  than  they 
ever  did  before,  because  we  have  felt  mightily 
the  power  of  the  Spirit  revealing  to  us  in  clear 
vision  our  Saviour,  through  whom  we  have  come 
to  know  the  Father.  We  thank  thee  for  the 
increase  of  our  faith,  which  has  led  to  an  increase 
in  our  prayer,  and  given  power  to  our  formerly 
ineffective  petitions.  Thou  hast  truly  gone 
beyond  our  faith ;  but  we  have  grown  bolder  now, 


114  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

and  will  venture  to  believe  that,  for  the  glory  of 
thy  holy  name,  thou  wilt  permit  us  to  see  here 
a  church  after  thine  own  heart,  one  in  which  our 
Master  has  his  way  in  every  member,  as  every 
mind  and  body,  and  all  earthly  possessions  are 
counted  a  sacred  trust,  and  held  and  used  subject 
absolutely  to  thy  call.  We  will  not  spend  our 
time  in  vain  regrets  over  our  own  past;  but, 
having  held  an  accounting  with  thee,  and  set 
things  just  as  far  right  as  possible,  we  will  give 
ourselves  with  joy  to  the  life  that  is  hid  with 
Christ  in  God,  and  therefore  goes  about  doing 
Christ's  work  in  the  world.  Grant  that  his  joy 
may  be  fulfilled  in  us,  that  our  joy  may  be  full. 
In  his  name.  Amen." 

''You  may  be  interested,  friends,  in  knowing 
that  I  have  been  accepted  by  the  Board  of 
Foreign  Missions,  and  am  to  start  for  China  early 
in  the  fall,"  reported  Dr.  Corson.  "It  so  hap- 
pened that  there  were  two  urgent  vacancies  in 
the  same  mission,  so  that  my  dear  friend,  Dr. 
Gage,  is  to  go  with  me,  and,  as  you  may  imagine, 
we  are  very  happy  over  that.  Now,  what  I 
want  to  ask  of  this  church,  which  seems  twice 
as  dear  as  it  ever  did  before,  is  that  you  will 
keep  on  praying  for  us,  now,  that  we  may  be  pre- 
pared for  the  new  work,  and  afterward  that  we 
may  never  get  so  busy  about  the  bodies  of  men 
that  we  shall  have  no  time  to  prescribe  for  their 
souls." 

"And  I,"  spoke  up  Dr.  Winthrop,  "have  my 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  115 

appointment  to  go  to  Korea,  the  land  of  present 
results.  But  while  it  will  be  inspiring  to  jump 
right  into  the  harvest,  I  shall  have  no  higher 
privilege  than  Corson  and  Gage,  for,  however 
responsive  Korea  is  now,  China  is  the  land  of  the 
future.  No  one  of  us  has  any  reason  to  envy 
another;  but  we  all  equally  depend  upon  your 
prayers  to  sustain  us  in  the  work  and  the  trials. 
But  I  reckon  that  those  trials  are  not  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  joy  of  the  service." 

''I  have  my  appointment  also  just  to  hand," 
joined  in  CHnton  Brill,  the  first  of  the  two  theo- 
logical students  who  had  offered  themselves  on 
that  first  evening;  "and  a  bit  of  the  old  sinful 
pride  came  up  in  my  throat  when  I  first  learned 
that  I  was  to  be  sent  to  Africa.  I  wondered  if 
those  secretaries  had  not  made  a  mistake  some- 
where, for  you  know  how  general  the  feeling  is 
that  'anything  will  do  for  Africa.'  It  took  but 
a  very  few  minutes'  thought,  however,  to  con- 
vince me  of  the  absurdity  of  that  idea,  as  I  ran 
over  in  my  mind  the  names  of  Livingstone  and 
Stanley  and  Moffat  and  Mackay  and  Pilkington 
and  Stewart  and  Good,  and  many  others,  not  to 
speak  of  the  men  and  women  who  are  now  ])roving 
themselves  the  peers  of  the  best  in  any  land;  and 
I  asked  myself.  Who  are  you  to  esteem  yourself 
too  good  to  follow  in  their  train?  I  have  been 
devouring  African  literature  every  spare  moment 
since,  and  am  now  ready  to  give  thanks  with 
all  my  heart  that  my  fine  constitution  fits  mc 


116  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

peculiarly  well  for  a  most  honorable  appoint- 
ment to  the  land  of  Livingstone  and  Mackay, 
to  help  make  another  Uganda  in  our  West  Africa 
Mission.  If  any  of  you  are  looking  for  inspira- 
tion, just  read  some  of  the  recent  reports  from 
that  field,  whose  abandonment  was  seriously  pro- 
posed a  few  years  ago,  but  which  is  now  bringing 
forth  a  hundredfold." 

''You  may  wonder,"  remarked  the  pastor, 
"that  I  do  not  make  report  on  my  application 
for  appointment;  but  my  age  is  proving  more  of 
an  obstacle  than  I  thought,  and  the  question 
has  not  yet  been  decided.  With  all  my  heart 
I  congratulate  these  young  men  of  ours  who  have 
already  received  their  appointments  to  the  work 
which  has  come  so  near  to  our  hearts  during  these 
weeks.  Elder  Stanhope,  will  you  not  offer  a 
special  prayer  for  these  young  men  who  are  to 
become  the  first  of  our  church's  living  Hnks  to 
the  world-wide  field?" 

''Our  Heavenly  Father,"  began  Mr.  Stanhope, 
"we  have  long  been  accustomed  to  pray,  'Send 
forth  more  laborers  into  thy  harvest,'  and  we  found 
it  very  easy  to  do  so,  for  it  cost  us  nothing.  It  is 
only  very  recently  that  we  have  been  willing  to  pray, 
'  Send  forth  our  young  people  as  laborers  into  thy 
harvest,'  and  to  use  our  means  to  send  them  forth. 
But  now,  by  thine  own  Spirit,  we  have  awakened 
to  the  reahzation  that  we  are  not  our  own,  but 
are  bought  with  the  most  precious  of  all  prices; 
and  that  what  we  possess  is  truly  what  we  have 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  117 

thoughtlessly  called  it,  'means,'  and  not  an  end. 
Dear  Lord,  thou  art  bringing  us  into  an  altogether 
new  relation  to  thy  kingdom  in  the  world,  and 
art  showing  us  that  the  reason  for  our  frequent 
discontent  is  simply  that  we  have  not  sought 
first  thy  kingdom  and  thy  righteousness.  And 
now  we  gladly  give  thee  our  very  best,  the  sons 
and  the  daughters  of  the  church,  that  they  may 
go  forth  to  make  thy  love  known  where  it  is  not 
now  known,  and  to  bring  the  love  which  we  have 
learned  of  thee  into  closest  possible  touch  with 
the  world's  greatest  need.  May  that  great  love 
of  thine  fill  full  their  hearts,  illumine  their  minds, 
make  radiant  their  faces,  give  unction  to  their 
lips,  add  skill  to  their  hands,  and  impel  their 
feet  in  all  the  varied  ministry  of  consecrated 
lives.  Cheer  them  in  times  of  loneliness;  guard 
them  in  times  of  peril;  comfort  them  in  times  of 
trial  and  sorrow;  strengthen  them  in  times  of 
discouragement;  keep  them  humble  and  thank- 
ful in  times  of  great  success;  give  them  that 
success  in  abundant  measure,  and  enable  them 
to  make  as  real  to  the  native  of  China,  Korea 
and  Africa  as  it  has  become  to  us,  the  abiding, 
personal  presence  of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  in  whose  name  we  pray.     Amen." 

The  meeting  was  closed  promptly;  but  so  many 
wished  to  grasp  the  hands  of  Deacon  Thorne, 
Mr.  Samuel  Austin,  Mr.  Stowell  and  the  young 
volunteers,  that  it  was  long  before  the  sexton 
had  an  opportunity  to  put  out  the  Ughts  and  close 


118  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

the  doors.  Among  the  last,  yet  unable  to  escape 
the  surprised  and  curious  observation  of  a  few, 
Henry  Austin  set  off  with  Lena  Harden,  who  had 
come  alone  to  the  meeting.  As  Gertrude  Austin 
and  Grace  Wentworth  lingered  talking  at  the 
last  corner,  where  their  ways  separated,  they 
were  fairly  startled  by  the  passing  of  Henry  and 
Lena,  engaged  in  animated  conversation. 

"What  does  it  mean,  Gertrude?"  whispered 
Grace,  as  soon  as  it  was  safe  to  ask  the  question. 

"I  haven't  an  idea,  Grace,"  responded 
Gertrude,  unable  to  withdraw  her  gaze  from  the 
two  who  had  just  passed  by.  "  I  have  never  seen 
my  brother  pay  Lena  any  attention  whatever; 
and  it  may  be  merely  that  he  saw  her  starting 
off  alone  and  politely  offered  his  escort,  knowing 
that  I  was  going  with  you;  but  it  may  also  be 
that  the  new  missionary  interest  has  drawn  them 
together  and  developed  an  interest  in  each  other. 
I  don't  know  anyone  whom  I  should  like  better 
to  see  Henry  interested  in  than  Lena,  if  it  were 
not  for  the  opposition  her  father  would  be  sure 
to  offer.  However,  we  would  better  not  build 
too  many  air  castles  on  the  basis  of  one  walk 
home  from  prayer  meeting.  They  both  have 
years  of  preparation  yet  before  them,  and  there 
may  be  nothing  in  it.  After  that  meeting  to-night 
I  feel  as  if  even  Mr.  Harden  might  be  brought 
to  see  things  as  we  do.  I  will  agree  to  pray  for 
him  every  day,  if  you  will.  It  will  mean  so  much 
to  Lena,  as  well  as  to  the  kingdom  of  God." 


CHAPTER  VI 

A    MISSIONARY    EDUCATION 

THE  girls  of  Miss  Bemis'  class  were  all 
eager  for  Saturday  afternoon  to  come 
once  more,  and  again  not  one  of  them  was 
absent.  They  were  expecting  some  interesting 
disclosures  in  fulfillment  of  their  agreement  as 
to  expense  accounts;  and,  though  the  making  up 
of  those  accounts  had  occasioned  no  little  morti- 
fication in  almost  every  case,  yet  all  felt  that  the 
confession  of  their  faults  one  to  another,  with 
prayer  one  for  another,  would  be  of  great  assist- 
ance in  the  endeavor  after  better  things  upon 
which  all  were  determined.  Little  did  they 
imagine  how  widely  extended  would  prove  the 
influence  of  what  they  were  doing  that  day. 
After  Lena  Harden  had  led  them  in  an  earnest 
prayer,  Gertrude  Austin,  as  president,  asked  the 
girls  what  their  wish  might  be  as  to  the  character 
of  the  meeting.  Catharine  Preston  at  once  took 
the  lead,  saying : 

''Since  I  made  the  proposal  last  week  that  we 
should  make  out  lists  of  our  expenses,  I  ought  to 
be  the  first  to  present  one.  I  hardly  need  to 
say  that  I  am  not  proud  of  it ;  but  frank  confes- 
sion is  good  for  the  soul,  and  I  want  to  have  it 
over  with.  Our  father  has  given  Caroline  and 
me,  since  we  were  sixteen,  five  dollars  a  week 
119 


120  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

apiece  as  an  allowance.  It  is  to  cover  gloves  and 
notions,  but  not  clothing,  and  we  can  use  it  just 
as  we  like.  So  my  income  for  three  months, 
has  been  about  sixty-eight  dollars,  and  this  is 
how  I  have  spent  it,  as  nearly  as  I  can  remember, 
for  I  don't  keep  accounts: 

Gloves $10.50  Soda     water     and 

Jewelry 6.00          cream $7.00 

Flowers 9.00  Theater  and  opera  .  10.00 

Concerts 5.00  Church  collections  .  i.oo 

Postage 1.00       Sunday  school 0.50 

Notions 4.50      Missions   0.50 

Confectionery i3-oo 

That  is,  I  have  spent  thirty-three  times  as  much 
on  myself  as  I  have  on  the  kingdom  of  Christ, 
and  one  hundred  and  thirty-two  times  as  much 
as  on  the  evangelization  of  the  w^orld!  But 
I  tell  you,  girls,  this  is  the  last  quarter  that  I 
shall  have  to  be  ashamed  of  such  a  record.  In 
the  first  place,  I  am  going  to  try  to  make  up  a 
Httle  for  the  past  by  giving  to  the  Lord  at  least 
one-fifth  of  my  income,  which  will  be  thirteen 
dollars  and  sixty  cents.  And  it  isn't  going  to 
mean  much  self-denial,  either.  I  can  easily 
save  at  least  a  dollar  and  a  half  on  gloves  and  a 
dollar  on  notions.  I've  jewelry  enough,  goodness 
knows,  but  I'll  leave  two  dollars  for  the  necessary 
pins  and  things:  that  gives  me  four  dollars. 
Half  my  candy,  half  my  flowers,  half  my  soda 
water,  no  more  theater,  but  a  little  more  for 
concerts: — why,   that   gives   me   just   two-fifths 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  121 

to  give  away,  instead  of  one-fifth!  Perhaps  I 
should  save  some  of  the  money,  or  buy  some 
books.  Well,  I'll  see;  but  I  am  sure  I  shall  not 
want  to  spend  more  on  myself  when  I  remember 
that  Jesus  is  with  me." 

CaroUne  Preston  was  a  much  quieter  girl  than 
her  twin  sister,  and  it  was  not  so  easy  for  her 
to  speak.  Yet  she  followed  her  sister  at  once, 
saying:  ''It  is  hardly  necessary  for  me  to  say 
anything,  for,  as  you  all  know,  Catharine  and  I 
very  seldom  do  anything  different.  When  she 
has  a  new  pair  of  gloves,  I  have  to  have  one; 
likewise  jewelry,  and  all  the  w^ay  down  through 
the  list.  And  when  she  has  reason  to  be  ashamed, 
I  generally  have  equal  reason.  I  really  think 
it  is  a  mistake  to  let  girls  of  our  age  have  as  much 
of  an  allowance  as  we  have,  for  so  much  of  it  is 
sure  to  be  wasted, — though  I  know  many  girls 
have  much  more;  but  I  am  glad  we  have  learned 
that,  even  when  we  are  living  on  an  allow^ance, 
we  are  stewardesses  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  I  am 
going  to  join  my  sister  in  turning  over  a  new  leaf." 

''You  girls  who  have  large  allowances  needn't 
think  that  you  are  the  only  ones  who  waste  what 
you  have  on  yourselves,"  said  Julia  Marsh. 
''My  father  never  felt  that  he  could  give  me  any 
allowance  at  all;  but  because  Alice  Stanhope 
had  one,  I  coaxed,  and  he  finally  said  that  he 
would  give  me  twenty-five  cents  a  week  to  use 
just  as  I  liked.  I  do  not  have  to  use  any  of  it 
for  clothing.     The  gloves  and  other  things  that 


122  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

I  wear  are  bought  by  my  father,  or  given  me 
by  my  Aunt  Helen.  What  I  have  worn  for  this 
quarter  would  be,  about,  gloves,  two  dollars  and 
fifty  cents;  notions,  one  dollar.  Aly  allowance 
of  three  dollars  and  twenty-five  cents  has  gone 
about  this  way: 

Candy $1.25       Flowers $0.50 

Soda  water 0.75       Church  and  Sunday 

Chewing  gum 0.50  school 0.25 

I  didn't  give  anything  to  missions  because  I 
didn't  think  I  had  enough.  If  I  gave  a  larger 
proportion  of  my  income  to  the  church  than 
Caroline  and  Catharine,  it  was  only  because  I 
couldn't  give  less  than  a  cent  a  Sunday  if  I  gave 
anything  at  all.  When  Catharine  was  figuring 
just  now,  it  occurred  to  me  that,  with  girls  Uke 
us  who  are  not  feeding  and  clothing  ourselves, 
a  tenth,  or  even  a  fifth,  of  our  income  is  too  small 
a  proportion  to  give  to  the  Lord.  I  am  going 
to  make  a  dollar  cover  the  candy  and  soda  water, 
cut  out  the  silly  gum,  and  that  will  leave  half  of 
my  allowance  for  more  sensible  things  and  for  the 
Lord's  work." 

"I  don't  have  any  allowance  at  all,"  said 
Margery  Wilson;  ''but  my  father  or  my  mother 
gives  me  something  every  once  in  a  while,  and 
I  have  earned  quite  a  little  taking  care  of  Mrs. 
Walker's  baby  for  a  few  hours  at  a  time;  so  I 
suppose  I  have  had  altogether  as  much  as  five 
dollars  in  the  last  three  months.     But  I  always 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  123 

felt  that  my  father  was  doing  so  many  things  for 
the  church,  for  which  he  was  not  paid,  that  I 
need  not  give  anything  to  the  church,  and  that 
we  were  too  poor  to  be  expected  to  give  anything 
to  missions;  so  I've  spent  every  cent  of  it  on 
myself,  except  ten  cents  I  gave  to  a  poor  old 
woman  who  was  out  of  work,  and  a  nickel  I 
gave  to  little  Sallie  Trimble  to  replace  a  broken 
dish  over  which  I  found  her  crying.  My  account 
is  very  much  like  the  others  except  that  what 
others  have  spent  on  gum  I  have  spent  on  moving 
picture  shows  and  postals.  I  can  see  now  that 
rny  thought  about  the  church  was  just  pure 
selfishness,  because  I  have  a  duty  to  it  myself, 
as  a  member;  and  as  for  giving  nothing  to  mis- 
sions, I  just  feel  too  mean  for  anything.  I  don't 
know  that  I  shall  ever  get  enough  education  to 
go  myself  as  a  missionary;  but  I  can  certainly 
have  some  part  in  the  work  by  giving;  and  I 
will." 

''Well,  girls,"  sighed  Gertrude  Austin,  "though 
I've  been  chairman  of  the  Christian  Endeavor 
Missionary  Committee,  I  don't  believe  my 
record  will  show  up  better  than  any  of  the  others, 
— hardly  as  well,  indeed,  for  I  have  had  so  much 
more  than  most  of  you  to  spend  on  myself.  You 
all  know  that  when  our  Aunt  Louise  died,  she 
left  to  Henry  and  me  the  greater  part  of  her 
money,  so  that  we  each  have  about  fifty  thousand 
dollars,  the  income  of  which,  two  thousand 
dollars  a  year,  we  are  allowed  to  use,  though  we 


124  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

cannot  touch  the  principal  until  we  are  twenty- 
five.  Father  and  mother  cannot  bear  to  take 
anything  for  our  food  at  home,  but  we  pay  for  our 
own  clothes  and  everything  else.  So  I  have  had 
five  hundred  dollars  this  quarter,  and  I  mean  to 
be  just  as  frank  as  any  of  you  and  tell  you  just 
how  I  have  spent  it,  as  nearly  as  I  can  recall. 

College       expenses,  Clothing  and  shoes .  S95.00 

one-fourth     year,                   Jewelry 15.00 

travel,       tuition.                    Postage 3.00 

board,         rooms.  Cabs  and  street  cars  12.00 

athletics $230.00       Confectionery 17.00 

Millinery 25.00      Theater  and  opera  .  18.00 

Books  and  papers  .  .      17.00       Church 3.25 

Picture  postals  ....       3.00       Sunday  school 1.30 

Flowers 20.00       Charity 5.00 

Soda     water       and  Foreign  missions ..  .  0.75 

cream 9.00      Y.  P.  S.  C.  E 1.30 

Concerts    and    lee-  Home  missions  ...  .  2.50 

tures 6.00       Balance  on  hand ...  15.90 

I  have  figured  that  at  least  a  hundred  and  fifty 
dollars  of  that  is  simply  waste  on  self-indulgence. 
Doesn't  it  seem  strange  that  we  girls  always  feel 
so  poor,  and  a  dollar  looks  so  big,  when  the  ques- 
tion is  one  of  giving,  especially  to  missions, 
though  we  treat  one  another  to  candy  and  soda 
water,  and  make  presents,  with  great  freedom? 
One  dollar  for  candy,  or  for  a  dozen  roses,  or  for 
a  theater  ticket,  or  a  cab,  has  always  seemed  to 
me  but  a  trifle.  What  a  difference  it  makes  when 
we  come  to  look  at  things  with  Jesus'  eyes!" 
"My  father  tells  me,"  said  Helen  Talbot,  the 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  125 


druggist's  daughter,  "  that  more  than  two-thirds 
of  his  total  sales,  and  of  his  profits,  are  from 
cigars,  confectionery,  chewing  gum  and  soda 
water;  and  that,  of  the  last  three,  fully  three- 
fourths  are  sold  to  girls  and  young  ladies.  And 
I  saw  the  statement  in  a  paper  that  at  one  of  the 
Student  Christian  Conference  places,  last  summer, 
the  store  took  in  more  for  confectionery  from  the 
young  women  students  at  one  conference  than  all 
the  colleges  represented  by  those  students  were 
giving  to  missions  in  a  year.  I  used  to  see  so 
much  candy  in  the  store,  and  nibble  so  much, 
that  I  got  rather  sick  of  that,  and  of  soda  water, 
too;  but  I  love  ice  cream,  and  salted  peanuts, 
and  eclairs  and  such  things  enough  to  make  up. 
And  I  have  been  foolishly  carried  away  with 
those  moving  picture  theaters,  until  I  suddenly 
woke  up  the  other  night  in  the  midst  of  a  dream 
which  showed  me  into  how  much  vain  and  even 
bad  thinking  they  were  leading  me.  Then  I 
began  to  figure  the  money  they  had  cost  me,  even 
at  five  and  ten  cents  each,  and  I  was  scared.  I 
did  a  Httle  watching  after  that,  noticing  how  many 
of  those  places  a  city  Hke  ours  supports,  and  find- 
ing by  questioning  that  thousands  of  nickels 
given  to  children  for  church  and  Sunday  school 
go  to  those  places  instead,  and  usually  to  the 
worst  of  them.  It  is  too  bad  that  a  good  thing 
has  been  spoiled  in  that  way,  just  because  there 
is  more  money  in  the  bad  ones  than  in  the  good 
ones.     I  am  going  to  keep  away  from  them,  for 


126  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

I  am  sure  there  are  very  few  that  Jesus  would 
care  to  see." 

Helen  read  her  quarterly  report,  as  did  all 
the  rest,  except  Grace  Wentworth.  There  was 
variety  of  detail,  but  an  impressive  monotony 
of  proportion  between  self-indulgence  and  sacri- 
fice. When  all  had  spoken  but  Grace,  she 
merely  said,  with  a  smile,  "Our  time  is  more  than 
up,  girls,  and  there  is  no  use  in  reading  mine." 

''Oh,  but  you  promised,  Grace;  and  we  all 
want  to  hear  yours,"  said  two  or  three  together, 
for  all  suspected  that  modesty  prevented  the  most 
unselfish  of  their  number  from  presenting  her 
statement.  With  evident  reluctance  she  yielded, 
saying  apologetically: 

''I  must  keep  my  promise,  if  you  insist,  girls; 
but  when  you  hear  my  account,  you  must  remem- 
ber that  my  circumstances  from  childhood  have 
been  different  from  those  of  most  of  you.  I 
have  not  had  the  temptations  of  most  of  you, 
because  we  have  always  had  to  practice  pretty 
strict  economy  at  home.  But  our  parents  wanted 
us  to  learn  to  use  money,  so,  ever  since  I  can 
remember,  we  have  had  our  allowances.  Until 
we  are  sixteen  we  have  each  had  a  cent  a  week 
for  every  year  of  our  ages,  to  spend  as  we  liked. 
After  sixteen,  the  purchase  of  our  clothing,  and 
everything  but  our  food,  is  turned  over  to  us, — 
of  course  always  in  consultation  with  our  parents 
until  we  come  of  age.  Anyone  who  goes  to 
college  is  to  have  food  money  added;   but  other 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  127 

extra  expenses  he  must  earn.  My  allowance 
is  now  a  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  a  year,  or 
thirty-seven  dollars  and  fifty  cents  for  the  quarter, 
and  I  have  spent  it  in  this  way: 


Clothing  and  shoes . 

$10.00 

Books 

$2.25 

Street  cars 

0.50 

Confectionery,  etc. . 

0.50 

Concerts    and    lec- 

Y. W.  C.  A.  gym- 

tures   

2.00 

nasium,  etc 

1.25 

Pictures  for  room  .  . 

1. 00 

Chair  for  room  .... 

4.00 

Chair  for  father .... 

6.00 

Church 

2.60 

Sunday  school 

0.65 

Y.P.S.C.E 

0.65 

Charity 

2.00 

Home  missions  .... 

1.30 

Foreign  missions .  .  . 

2.60 

Balance 

0.20 

You  see,  I  abominate  chewing  gum,  and  I  don't 
feel  the  need  of  candy  and  soda  water  as  some 
girls  do ;  and  I  raise  my  own  flowers  without  any 
expense.  Then  I  suppose  I  care  more  for  pic- 
tures and  books  than  some  of  you.  Father  and 
mother,  you  know,  have  never  approved  of  the 
theater,  and  I  have  never  been  to  one  in  my  hfe, 
and  am  rather  glad  of  it.  They  say  we  can  go  if 
we  wish  after  we  are  twenty-one;  but  from  all  I 
hear,  plays,  with  a  few  exceptions,  are  growing 
worse  rather  than  better,  and  I  do  not  think  I 
shall  ever  go.  As  to  my  giving,  we  were  always 
taught  to  give  systematically,  and  it  makes  it 
a  lot  easier.  My  item  for  clothing  is  rather  light, 
I  know;  but  when  I  saw  those  two  chairs,  one 
just  the  thing  for  father's  birthday,  and  the  other 
just  fitting  my  little  room,  I  let  some  of  the  other 
things  I  needed  wait  for  another  quarter.     So, 


128  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

you  see,  I  too  have  been  indulging  myself  this 
quarter." 

"What  do  you  think,  girls,  would  be  the  result 
if  all  of  us  should  adopt  Grace's  plan  of  self- 
indulgence  for  the  next  quarter?"  asked  the  class 
president.  "More  than  one-fourth  of  her  tiny 
income  has  gone  straight  to  the  Lord,  and  fifteen 
per  cent  more  has  gone  back  in  loving  remem- 
brance to  her  father!  Which  one  of  us  all,  do 
you  suppose,  enjoyed  her  income  the  most,  the 
past  three  months?" 

Thoughtfully  they  had  gathered;  yet  more 
thoughtfully  these  girls  went  their  homeward 
ways. 

It  was,  of  course,  well-nigh  impossible  to  keep 
strictly  within  the  httle  circle  of  thirteen  girls 
the  interesting  developments  of  that  afternoon. 
Indeed,  several  of  those  girls  felt  that  the  ex- 
perience was  likely  to  prove  so  profitable  to  them 
that  they  wished  their  brothers  and  other  friends 
to  know,  in  a  general  way,  the  result  of  their 
experiment.  Among  these  was  Gertrude  Austin, 
who  took  advantage  of  an  opportunity  that  very 
evening  to  talk  with  her  brother  Henry,  between 
whom  and  herself  a  delightful  mutual  confidence 
had  sprung  up  in  consequence  of  the  new  ideals 
of  hfe  which  both  had  adopted.  She  drew  him 
aside  into  her  own  room,  and  sitting  down  beside 
him  on  the  couch,  began: 

"Henry,  we've  been  having  such  an  interest- 
ing experience  in  Miss  Bemis'  class  to-day.     I 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  129 

wanted  to  tell  you  about  it  a  week  ago,  but 
thought  I  would  wait  until  we  had  tried  it 
actually.  Catharine  Preston  proposed  that  we 
not  merely  decide  that  we  ought  to  do  more  for 
the  kingdom  of  God,  but  that  we  figure  up  what 
we  were  doing  for  ourselves  and  then  confess  our 
faults  one  to  another.  We  have  just  been  doing 
it  this  afternoon;  and  though  it  was  one  of  the 
most  humiliating  experiences  I  have  ever  been 
through,  I  am  sure  it  will  be  one  of  the  most 
helpful.  We  were  all  conscientious  about  it  and 
didn't  hide  anything;  and  we  found  that,  whether 
we  had  three  dollars  a  quarter  or  five  hundred 
dollars,  we  were  all  spending  many  times  as  much 
on  fooHsh  indulgences,  even  down  to  chewing 
gum  with  some,  as  we  were  using  for  the  kingdom 
of  God, — all  of  us  except  Grace  Wentworth,  dear 
soul,  who  was  giving  away  nearly  half  her  pittance 
right  along." 

"What  a  sweet,  unselfish  girl  she  is!"  rejoined 
Henry  warmly.  "It's  been  a  wonder  to  me  that 
I  haven't  fallen  in  love  with  her,  Gertrude,  for 
she'll  certainly  make  a  good  man  happy  some  day; 
but  my  foolish  heart  won't  go  where  it  ought. 
But  about  this  scheme  of  yours;  it  is  certainly 
quite  original,  and  not  by  any  means  a  bad  idea. 
I  wonder  how  it  would  work  with  the  fellows  in 
our  class.  I've  a  good  notion  to  propose  it  on 
Monday  evening  when  we  hold  our  meeting. 
We've  got  something  else  on  foot  for  that  even- 
ing; but  it  won't  take  long  to  propose  this  plan, 
9 


130  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

report  its  success  with  your  class,  and  see  what 
the  fellows  think  of  it." 

''Some  of  us  were  afraid  at  first  that  it  might 
seem  too  personal,  too — what  w^ould  you  call  it? 
— 'Sumptuary,'  I  beheve  is  the  technical  term; 
but  it  has  become  perfectly  evident  to  us  that 
one  of  the  greatest  troubles  w^ith  Christians  is  that 
we  are  altogether  too  careful  in  cutting  down 
expenses  for  the  kingdom,  and  not  half  careful 
enough  when  it  comes  to  matters  of  personal 
indulgence.  So  we're  very  glad  we've  weighed 
up  our  candy  and  gum,  and  counted  our  pennies 
and  dollars." 

"That  is  wonderfully  well  put,  Gertrude,  and 
will  bear  quoting  to  our  class.  The  special  object 
we  have  in  meeting  this  week  is  to  try  to  organize 
a  mission  study  class.  We  shall  not  necessarily 
limit  the  class  to  our  little  circle.  Our  teacher. 
Dr.  Sears,  is,  as  you  know,  the  Committee  on 
Mission  Study,  and  he  felt  that  we  were  the  best 
nucleus  he  could  find  for  the  first  class  to  be 
formed.  He  is  going  to  meet  with  us  on  Monday 
night;  but  I  do  not  think  that  need  prevent  the 
broaching  of  the  other  matter,  for  Dr.  Sears  is 
now  just  as  much  in  earnest  in  this  matter  as  any- 
one else  in  the  church,  and  he  knows  thoroughly 
how  to  be  a  boy  with  the  boys.  My  I  it  doesn't 
seem  possible  that  we  are  anything  but  boys 
yet;  yet  the  youngest  member  of  the  class  has 
attained  his  majority,  and  Preston  is  twenty- 
five!     There  is  a  very  good  spirit  in  the  class  just 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  131 

now,  and  I  believe  we  can  have  a  good  study 
class." 

''I  heartily  hope  you  may,  and  that  we  may 
soon  have  several  others  going  for  different  groups 
in  the  congregation,"  replied  his  sister,  as  Henry 
rose  to  leave  the  room. 

Dr.  Sears'  class  had  been  invited  to  his  home 
for  their  meeting  the  next  week.  So  complete 
had  been  the  change  in  Dr.  Sears;  so  much  had 
Mrs.  Sears,  as  well  as  the  doctor,  been  moved  by 
the  clear  Christian  confession  and  new  spirit 
of  their  daughter  Anna,  that  Mrs.  Wentworth 
had  found  the  task  of  winning  Mrs.  Sears  to  an 
interest  in  the  evangelization  of  the  world  an 
exceedingly  easy  one.  Her  previous  lack  of 
interest  had  been  chiefly  the  indifference  born  of 
ignorance.  Like  her  husband,  she  had  been 
vexed  rather  than  stirred  on  the  great  days  which 
began  the  movement  in  the  church;  but  the 
events  in  the  church  and  in  her  own  home  since 
those  days  had  been  quite  sufficient,  as  she  told 
her  friend  Mrs.  Wentworth,  to  warm  her  heart 
toward  the  whole  world,  and  make  her  wish 
to  share  the  blessings  of  the  gospel  with  all  men. 
With  the  help  of  her  daughter,  she  proposed  to 
have  some  very  attractive  refreshments  ready  in 
waiting  for  the  members  of  her  husband's  class, 
when  they  should  have  finished  their  business. 
To  judge  by  their  devotion  to  that  business,  they 
were  not  in  the  least  aware  of  the  treat  in  store 
for  them. 


132  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


When  the  young  men  had  all  arrived,  Dr. 
Sears  seated  them  in  his  parlor  and  cordially 
welcomed  them  to  his  home,  after  which  he  said : 

"Ten  always  was  a  fine  unit  of  numbers;  and 
when  one  wishes  to  start  a  new  enterprise,  there 
is  no  better  way  to  begin  than  for  one  man  to  get 
ten  others  to  join  him  in  setting  the  wheels  in 
motion.  In  a  church  there  is  no  ten  which  can 
make  a  new  enterprise  effective  through  a  com- 
bination of  enthusiasm  and  good  common  sense 
like  ten  young  men,  not  of  the  callow  sort,  just 
beginning  to  pass  out  of  childhood,  but  of  the 
vigorous  thinking  and  observing  age  which  you 
have  all  attained.  A  great  change  has  come  over 
our  church,  as  you  know;  but  that  change  re- 
quires for  its  permanence  the  enhstment  of  the 
interest  of  every  young  person  in  the  church, 
and  your  determination,  not  merely  to  get  as 
much  good  out  of  the  world  as  possible,  but  to 
put  all  the  good  into  it  which  may  be  made 
possible  by  seeking  first  the  kingdom  of  God 
and  his  righteousness.  If  I  should  ask  you  to- 
night seriously  to  consider  for  twenty-four  hours 
the  world's  greatest  need,  I  feel  quite  confident 
that  you  would  come  back  with  a  unanimous 
finding  that,  both  at  home  and  abroad,  the 
world's  greatest  need  is  not  the  estabhshing  or 
perfecting  of  constitutional  government,  the 
adoption  of  universal  arbitration,  the  building 
of  more  railway  and  steamship  Unes,  the  adoption 
of   a    universal   language,    the   development   of 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  133 


automobiles  or  aeroplanes;  but  such  a  knowledge 
of  God  in  Christ  as  shall  bring  every  thought, 
as  well  as  every  word  and  deed,  into  glad  sub- 
jection to  his  perfect  will,  that  the  will  of  God 
may  be  done  on  earth  as  it  is  done  in  heaven. 
In  other  words,  'all  things  are  ours'  only  when 
'we  are  Christ's  and  Christ  is  God's,'  as  our 
pastor  said  the  other  day.  We  see  in  him,  and 
in  the  truths  which  he  taught,  the  only  and  the 
absolutely  sure  panacea  for  all  the  wrongs  and 
discords  of  earth.  But,  however  convinced  we 
may  be  in  our  own  minds  of  this  as  a  theoretical 
proposition,  it  will  take  a  far  more  vigorous  and 
compelling  grip  upon  us  if  we  study  systematically 
and  persistently  the  records  of  the  transformations 
already  wrought  by  the  gospel,  and  the  immeas- 
urably great  need  which  still  exists  for  its  proc- 
lamation and  apphcation.  When  we  want  to 
study  anything  else  in  this  fashion,  we  form  a 
class  for  the  purpose.  The  new  Missionary  Com- 
mittee of  our  church  is  strongly  convinced  that 
we  should  have  mission  study  classes  among  us; 
and,  having  been  appointed  a  sub-committee 
on  this  subject,  I  never  have  had  a  doubt  that 
the  very  best  place  to  begin  is  in  our  own  Sunday- 
school  class.  You  have  been  holding  weekly 
meetings  by  yourselves,  and,  possibly,  they  have 
been  so  profitable  that  you  would  not  care  to  have 
other  matters  give  place  to  mission  study;  but 
either  on  this  or  some  other  evening, — for  many 
of  you  are  free  at  no  other  time, — I  shall  be  very 


134  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

glad  to  help  you  organize  a  mission  study  class, 
if  you  feel  inclined  to  do  so.  There  is  a  book 
which  I  think  we  ought  to  study  first  of  all,  as  it 
answers  in  a  brief  but  forceful  way  the  thousand 
and  one  questions  which  everyone  is  inclined  to 
ask  about  missions.  It  is  called  'The  Why  and 
How  of  Foreign  Missions,'  and  was  specially 
prepared  to  ser\^e  as  a  text-book  for  such  classes. 
Afterward  we  can  take  up  the  study  of  the  various 
countries  of  the  world  and  their  religions,  and  the 
fascinating  biographies  of  the  world's  great  mis- 
sionaries. What  do  you  say,  men?  Let  each 
one  speak  his  mind  freely." 

"Well,  I  can  say  one  thing.  Dr.  Sears,"  spoke 
up  Henry  Austin  with  energy,  "and  that  is  that 
if  we  young  men  do  not  get  to  moving  pretty 
soon,  we  shall  find  ourselves  left  far  behind  by 
the  young  ladies  of  the  church,  just  as  the  men 
of  the  last  generation  allowed  themselves  to  be 
entirely  outdone  by  their  wives.  I  know  one 
class  in  the  Sunday  school  at  least,  the  one  to 
which  my  sister  Gertrude  belongs,  which  has  been 
doing  some  startling  things  already,  even  though 
they  have  not  organized  mission  study.  They 
began  by  confessing  their  faults  one  to  another, 
and  then  they  all  agreed  to  make  up  accounts  for 
the  last  three  months,  and  tell  one  another  how 
their  gifts  to  the  Lord  compared  with  what  they 
had  spent  on  themselves.  The  results  are  said 
to  have  been  somewhat  amazing  and  humiliating; 
but  not  one  whit  more  so,  I  imagine,  than  they 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  135 

would  be  with  us  if  we  should  try  the  experiment. 
My  sister  made  a  remark  which  was  so  well  put 
that  I  told  her  I  should  repeat  it  at  the  first  oppor- 
tunity. She  said:  'If  anyone  thinks  this  opera- 
tion too  sumptuary,  we  have  come  to  believe 
that  one  of  the  greatest  faults  of  Christians  in 
general  is  that  we  are  altogether  too  sumptu- 
ary about  what  we  give  to  the  kingdom,  and  not 
half  sumptuary  enough  about  our  selfish  in- 
dulgences. We're  very  glad  we  weighed  up  our 
candy  and  gum  and  counted  our  pennies  and  dol- 
lars.' Now,  we  may  have  to  substitute  something 
else  for  the  candy  and  gum;  but  I  think  it  would 
be  a  most  wholesome  thing  for  us  if  we  should 
count  up  the  pennies  and  the  dollars.  I  fear 
that,  in  my  own  case,  most  of  the  pennies  have 
gone  to  the  kingdom  and  the  dollars  to  myself. 
Perhaps  I  ought  not  to  bring  this  up  now;  yet 
I  believe  the  two  things  will  help  one  another; 
and  I,  for  one,  am  heartily  in  favor  of  organizing 
the  mission  study  class.  I  shall  be  only  too  glad 
to  be  a  member  of  it." 

"As  for  the  evening,"  suggested  Porter  Stan- 
hope, a  young  man  of  twenty-three,  the  oldest 
grandson  of  the  elder,  and  for  several  years  en- 
gaged with  his  father  and  grandfather  in  the  de- 
partment store  in  which  the  elder  was  still  a 
partner,  though  no  longer  a  very  active  one,  "I 
think  we  might  with  advantage  use  the  evening 
which  we  have  been  accustomed  to  take  for  our 
meetings.     I   am   sure   there   have   been    many 


136  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

meetings  when  the  time  was  spent  far  less  pro- 
fitably. We  have  felt  that  we  ought  to  meet; 
but  have  never  had  any  very  definite  aim  in  our 
meetings,  and  so  have  wasted  a  great  deal  of 
time.  If  confessions  are  in  order,  there  have 
been  two  or  three  occasions  when  the  few  who 
were  present  spent  the  time  playing  cards.  If 
Dr.  Sears  will  teach  the  class,  I  shall  be  delighted 
to  join  it,  and  can  hope  to  attend  regularly  now 
that  the  Merchants'  Association  has  decided  on 
early  closing.  As  to  Austin's  report  of  what 
the  girls  have  been  doing,  it  fairly  made  my  hair 
stand  on  end  to  think  of  presenting  to  the  rest 
of  you  a  detailed  statement  of  what  I  did  mth 
my  money  the  last  quarter;  yet  I  don't  know 
that  it's  any  more  humiliating  to  confess  to 
cigarettes  than  to  che^^^ng  gum!  Some  of  the 
bitterest  medicines  are  the  most  effective,  they 
say;  and  I  don't  know  but  such  a  dose  might 
prove  the  best  remedy  for  what  is  certainly  a 
deplorable  state  of  affairs.  I'll  do  it  with  the 
rest  of  you." 

''Well,  I  won't!"  scornfully  cried  Edward 
Harden,  the  very  image  of  his  father  in  body 
and  mind,  and  associated  with  him  in  the  office. 
"That  sort  of  thing  may  do  for  girls  in  their 
'teens;  but  I  think  it  would  be  an  impertinence 
for  any  one  to  inquire  as  to  the  way  in  which  a 
man  spends  his  money;  and,  as  for  volunteering 
to  give  an  account  of  it  to  a  lot  of  other  men, 
with  all  due  apologies  to  those  who  suggest  it. 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  137 

I  think  it  is  simply  silly.  I  agree  with  my  father 
in  thinking  that  Westminster  Church  is  quite 
overdoing  this  foreign  mission  business;  and  I 
hope  it  will  come  to  its  senses  before  long.  I 
think  we  could  spend  our  time  much  more  pro- 
fitably on  something  else  than  on  studying  these 
goody-goody  books  about  missionaries  who  have 
converted  and  baptized  a  thousand  natives  within 
a  month  of  landing  on  a  savage  island,  and  then 
have  been  cooked  and  eaten  by  the  backsliding 
cannibals.  But,  of  course,  if  every  other  mem- 
ber of  our  class  wants  to  study  missions,  I'm 
not  going  to  be  ugly  and  stand  out.  Only,  if 
this  thing  is  not  done  in  moderation,  I  believe 
my  father  and  I  will  both  take  our  letters  to  some 
other  church." 

"Well,  Edw^ard,  we  are  very  glad  that  you  are 
disposed  to  join  the  study  class  with  us,  even 
though  you  do  not  find  yourself  in  sympathy 
with  all  that  is  going  on  in  the  class  and  the 
church.  Certainly  no  one  will  compel,  or  even 
urge,  you  to  present  a  statement  of  your  personal 
expenditures.  That  is  always  strictly  a  matter 
between  a  mature  man  and  his  God;  and  no  one 
else  has  any  right  to  it  unless  it  is  freely  offered 
for  the  general  advantage.  Personally,  while 
the  idea  is  novel,  and  at  first  bears  a  faint  sug- 
gestion of  the  washing  of  soiled  clothes  in  public, 
yet,  the  more  I  think  of  it  for  a  little  circle  like 
ours,  the  more  I  feel  inclined  to  agree  with  Miss 
Gertrude  Austin  in  what  she  so  well  said.     I 


138  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

think  also,  Edward,  that  if  you  will  take  the  pains 
to  make  a  careful  comparison  between  the  sum 
total  of  the  life  of  our  church  now  and  two  months 
ago,  you  will  become  convinced  that  something 
besides  foreign  missions  has  taken  possession  of 
us,  something  which  gives  the  church  a  larger 
place  in  the  social  and  civil  life  of  Jaconsett  than 
it  ever  had  before.  That  which  has  made  a  new 
man  of  me,  and  of  many  another,  is  not  our 
interest  in  foreign  missions,  but  the  new  concep- 
tion of  a  life  in  close,  conscious  fellowship  with 
Jesus  Christ;  and  this  determines  my  relation 
to  foreign  missions,  to  this  class,  and  to  everything 
else.  If  any  of  you  would  really  rather  have  me 
as  I  was  two  months  ago,  please  say  so." 

This  made  even  Edward  Harden  smile  and  put 
him  in  a  better  humor.  Charhe  Ransom  ex- 
pressed forcibly  the  general  feeling  when  he  said: 
"We  would  rather  have  one  Dr.  Sears  as  he  is, 
than  ten  of  Dr.  Sears  as  he  was;  and  I  believe 
we  are  all  agreed  on  that.  I  move  that  we  ask 
our  teacher  to  become  the  teacher  of  the  first 
Mission  Study  Class  in  Westminster  Church, 
of  which  class  we  shall  be  the  charter  members; 
and  that  as  many  as  feel  so  incUned  shall  present, 
as  initiation  fee,  a  'sumptuary  statement'  for 
the  last  quarter,  any  not  so  disposed  being  ad- 
mitted ex  gratia." 

"I  second  the  motion,"  said  Robert  Weatherby, 
"though  I  fear  I  shall  be  so  ashamed  that  I  shall 
want  to  steal  in  under  the  last  clause,  for  my  con- 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  139 


science  is  already  beginning  to  bring  up  the  ghosts 
of  dead  extravagances  to  haunt  me.  My  account, 
if  I  ever  present  one,  will  be  rather  lopsided." 

This  unconventional  and  rather  humorous 
motion  was  put  by  Mr.  Horace  Preston,  the 
oldest  member  of  the  class  and  its  president, 
and  carried  with  no  opposing  votes,  Edward 
Harden  refraining  from  voting.  Dr.  Sears  had 
ready  at  hand  copies  of  "The  Why  and  How  of 
Foreign  Missions,"  that  no  time  might  be  lost, 
and  he  gave  a  brief  outline  of  the  first  chapter, 
afterward  assigning  a  sub-topic  to  each  member  of 
the  class  for  special  preparation  from  the  text- 
book and  from  any  other  available  sources; 
and  expressing  the  earnest  hope  that  much 
material  would  be  brought  in  which  would  help 
in  the  solving  of  other  questions  likely  to  be 
suggested  by  their  consideration  of  the  subject 
together.  Even  the  hasty  glancing  over  of  the 
first  chapter  that  evening  made  Edward  Harden 
ashamed  of  the  disagreeable  things  he  had  said; 
but  he  made  no  admissions  save  by  greater 
geniality  as  the  class  talked  of  other  things  and 
formed  some  plans  for  more  personal  work  for 
the  young  men  of  the  congregation  who  had  not 
yet  taken  a  stand  as  Christians.  No  reference 
was  made  in  this  conference  to  the  three  of  their 
own  number  who  were  not  known  as  Christians, 
who,  however,  could  not  but  feel  that  the  mem- 
bers of  their  class  were  having  them  prayerfully 
in  mind.     After  an  hour  and  a  half  of  more  prac- 


140  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

tical  planning  than  the  class  had  ever  done  before, 
Dr.  Sears  expressed  his  great  gratification  at  the 
results,  apparent  and  prospective,  of  the  meeting, 
and  added: 

"Before  we  close,  I  cannot  refrain  from  ex- 
pressing my  longing  desire,  which  I  feel  sure  is 
shared  by  every  other  present,  that  our  class 
should  be  an  absolute  unit  in  the  joyful  service 
of  our  risen  and  living  Lord.  We  shall  not  count 
as  a  perfect  ten,  or  even  as  a  full  seven-tenths 
of  ten,  until  every  one  of  us  acknowledges  Christ 
as  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father.  And 
I  am  equally  certain  that  no  one  of  you  will 
ever  find  his  own  life  complete  until  he  has  made 
the  full  surrender  and  accepted  the  full  salvation. 
In  doing  so  you  give  up  a  body  prone  to  increase 
its  own  inherited  curse,  a  mind  darkened  to 
the  real  values  of  life,  and  a  spirit  storm-tossed 
among  ambitions  and  doubts  and  disappoint- 
ments; and  you  receive  in  return  a  body  which 
is  the  sacred  and  beautiful  temple  of  the  Holy 
Spirit,  a  mind  which  finds  all  the  best  things  in 
life  within  the  good  and  acceptable  and  perfect 
will  of  God,  and  a  spirit  at  rest  in  the  peace  of 
God  which  passeth  understanding,  rich  for  this 
life  and  the  life  which  is  to  come.  If  I  had  done 
my  duty  by  you  all  years  ago,  I  believe  you  would 
all  have  been  in  Christ  now;  but  now,  not  merely 
in  Christ's  stead,  but  in  his  felt  presence,  I  pray 
you  be  reconciled  to  God." 

And  the  man  who  had  never  led  his  class  in 


W ITH    YOU    ALWAYS  141 


prayer  before,  closed  the  meeting  with  a  few 
words  of  such  earnest  personal  supplication  for 
these  grown  young  men  that  more  than  one  of 
them  found  it  difficult  to  keep  back  the  tears. 
When  he  had  finished,  he  threw  open  the  folding 
doors  which  led  to  the  dining  room.  This  room 
opened  widely  into  the  parlor;  and  the  young 
men  w^re  astonished  to  see  a  well-spread  table, 
with  not  only  Mrs.  Sears  and  Anna  smiling  a 
welcome,  but  also  Gertrude  and  Grace,  Lena, 
Catharine  and  Caroline,  who  had  been  coaxed 
in  to  help  entertain.  There  was  no  need  of  intro- 
ductions, and  a  delightful  hour  of  the  most  genial 
Christian  sociability  closed  an  evening  such  as 
few,  if  any,  of  the  young  men  had  ever  before 
spent.  The  bonds  between  teacher  and  class  had 
been  mightily  strengthened;  and  every  man  of 
them  knew  that  he  had  been  brought  nearer  to 
Jesus  Christ. 


D 


CHAPTER  VII 

A   WEEKLY   MISSIONARY    OFFERING 

URING  the  week  which  followed  it  was  a 
funny  sight  to  observe  the  expressions  on 
the  faces  of  the  members  of  Dr.  Sears's 
class  as  they  met  one  another  in  various  places. 
The  greeting  was  sure  to  be,  ''Hello,  Austin; 
how's  the  sumptuary  law  working?"  or,  ''How 
do  you  do,  Weatherby?  How's  the  market  for 
cigars  up  your  way  this  week?"  or,  "Well,  Pres- 
ton, what  are  you  cutting  out  of  your  dietary?" 
Yet,  with  all  the  joking,  it  was  proving  the  most 
serious  week  in  the  lives  of  some  of  these  young 
men,  most  of  whom  were  already  making  their 
own  w^ay,  though  only  Preston  and  Richard 
Walker  were  married.  They  all  saluted  one 
another  in  very  hilarious  fashion  as  they  met  at 
the  home  of  Henry  Austin,  the  following  Mon- 
day evening;  but  it  was  more  as  a  cover  to  the 
serious  embarrassment  felt  by  more  than  one  at 
the  self-discovery  of  the  week  than  as  ridicule  of 
the  idea.  None  of  them  would  have  been  sur- 
prised by  the  absence  of  Edward  Harden;  but 
he  was  there,  and  brought  his  text-book  with  him. 
Dr.  Sears  proved  as  good  a  teacher  of  mis- 
sions as  he  had  recently  been  of  the  Bible,  and 
the  hour  given  to  study  of  the  subject,  "The 
Foreign  Mission  Motive  and  Aim,"  passed 
142 


W  IT  H    YOU    ALWAY  S  143 

altogether  too  quickly.  More  than  one  member 
of  the  class  had  been  struck  by  the  quotations 
facing  the  opening  of  the  first  chapter,  such  as 
''The  goal  of  history  is  the  redemption  of  the 
world";  "Loyalty  to  God  and  Christ,  love  to 
man,  and  the  tremendous  want,  constrain  us." 
Their  teacher  brought  out  so  clearly  and  strongly, 
largely  through  question  and  answer,  that,  ''in 
proportion  as  the  soul's  experience  in  Christ  is 
genuine  and  deep,  will  we  desire  to  communicate 
it  to  others;  the  man  who  has  no  religion  of  his 
own  that  he  values,  of  course  is  not  interested  in 
the  effort  to  make  it  known  to  others.  He  who 
has  knowledge  that  is  essential  to  his  fellow-men 
is  under  obligation  to  convey  that  knowledge 
to  them.  There  is  no  worthy  reason  for  being 
concerned  about  the  salvation  of  the  man  next 
to  us  which  is  not  equally  applicable  to  the  man 
five  thousand  miles  away.  The  command  of 
Christ  is  the  bugle  call,  which  to  the  true  soldier 
never  loses  its  thrilling,  response-compelling 
power.  It  is  not  a  request,  not  a  suggestion. 
It  leaves  nothing  to  our  choice.  It  is  an  order, 
comprehensive,  unequivocal,  a  clear,  peremptory, 
categorical  imperative:  'Go!'  The  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world  was  the  supreme  thought  of 
Christ:  it  is  still  his  supreme  thought.  Failure 
to  do  the  will  of  Christ  emasculates  the  essential 
idea  of  the  church:  if  we  believe  in  Christ,  we 
must  believe  in  foreign  missions.  Christianity 
is  not  a  lifeboat  sent  out  to  a  sinking  ship  to 


144  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


rescue  a  few  passengers  and  let  the  rest  go  to  the 
bottom.  The  missionary  is  the  advance  agent 
of  civilization,  the  greatest  philanthropist,  the 
achiever  of  the  largest  results.  The  aim  of 
foreign  missions  is  to  present  Christ  so  intelli- 
gently to  men  that  they  will  accept  him  as  their 
personal  Saviour,  to  influence  men  at  every 
stage  of  their  careers,  and  to  organize  the  con- 
verts into  self-supporting  and  self-governing 
churches." 

It  had  been  expected  that  Edward  Harden 
would  surely  contradict  and  oppose,  or  at  least 
be  cynically  critical;  but,  greatly  to  the  sur- 
prise of  everyone,  he  appeared  interested  in  the 
discussion,  asked  some  intelligent  questions, 
and  at  the  close  of  the  hour  said  that  he  had 
become  so  interested  in  the  first  chapter  that  he 
had  read  on  through  the  book;  that  if  every- 
thing in  that  book  was  true  he  had  evidently 
been  misinformed  about  many  things,  and  that 
he  wished  to  apologize  to  Dr.  Sears  and  to  the 
others  for  his  intemperate  language  the  previous 
week.  What  had  come  over  Edward  Harden? 
was  the  wondering  thought  of  all  who  knew  him 
well. 

"Now  that  the  study  is  over  for  the  evening," 
said  Dr.  Sears,  after  assigning  another  chapter 
and  giving  out  special  questions  to  each  one,  "I 
will  take  my  departure,  that  you  may  feel  greater 
freedom  in  whatever  else  you  may  wish  to  do 
this  evening." 


WITH    YOU    ALWAY  S  145 


"I  am  sure  that  none  of  us  would  feel  any 
constraint  in  your  presence,  Dr.  Sears,"  pro- 
tested the  class  president;  "and  I  think  it  might 
be  very  helpful  to  us  younger  men  to  have  you 
with  us  while  we  clean  house." 

This  being  evidently  the  general  sentiment.  Dr. 
Sears  did  not  feel  at  all  averse  to  remaining,  but 
gave  over  the  leadership  to  Mr.  Horace  Preston, 
who  introduced  the  further  programme  with 
the  remark:  "I  have  enjoyed  the  first  part  of 
the  meeting  this  evening  much  more  than  I 
expect  to  enjoy  what  is  yet  to  come,  though  the 
more  I  study  that  chapter  in  our  text-book,  the 
more  dissatisfied  I  feel  with  what  I  have  to  report. 
To  save  my  face,  I  would  gladly  be  excused,  but 
to  satisfy  my  conscience  and  stiffen  my  back- 
bone, as  well  as  because  I  am  the  oldest  member 
of  the  class,  I  will  confess  first.  I  receive  a 
salary  of  four  thousand  dollars  a  year,  and  my 
income  from  inherited  means  is  about  as  much 
more,  so  that  I  have  an  income  of  about  two 
thousand  dollars  a  quarter.  Of  the  expendi- 
tures of  the  last  quarter  I  will  give  you  as  ac- 
curate an  account  as  I  can. 

Life  insurance $125.00  Furniture,  pictures, 

Fire  insurance i5-oo  etc $50.00 

Servants 180.00  Concerts    and    lee- 
Depreciation          of                       tures 15.00 

automobile 130.00  Summer         outing, 

Maintenance       and  one-fourth 160.00 

running    automo-  Books     and      peri- 
bile  100.00           odicals 75-00 

10 


146  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

Dental  work $55.00       Travel $85.00 

Tobacco 45.00  Medical  attendance  35.00 

Confectionery,  etc. .     35.00       Club  expenses 25.00 

Taxes 80.00       Flowers 3S-oo 

Water,     heat     and  Church  support ....  10.00 

electricity 75-00       Sunday  school 1.30 

Food  for  three  and  P'oreign  missions .  .  .  .50 

servants 320.00       Y.  M.  C.  A 2.50 

Insurance  on  same.     40.00  Home          missions. 

Clothing  for  family  200.00          various 2.50 

Theater  and  opera.     45.00       Charity 3.00 

Entertaining 50.00  Balance  in  bank.  .  .  5.20 

My  wife's  personal  expenditures  she  has  provided 
from  her  own  means.  So  you  see  I  have  'lived 
within  my  income,'  as  the  saying  goes.  I  have 
had  little  left  to  invest.  Perhaps  my  automobile, 
insured  as  it  is  against  all  risks,  and  my  Ufe  in- 
surance, might  come  under  the  head  of  invest- 
ments. Lived  within  my  income?  No;  I  have 
done  nothing  of  the  sort.  I  have  lived  within  my 
income  plus  the  Lord's;  and  have  reckoned  his 
at  less  than  twenty  dollars,  while  mine  has  been 
nearly  two  thousand  dollars  I  Do  you  think  he 
could  live  on  it?  Even  a  Chinaman  couldn't  do 
that.  And  to  make  it  even  twenty,  I  have  had  to 
reckon  in  my  poor  pay  for  my  own  church  privi- 
leges !  I  tell  you,  men,  it  was  a  mighty  poor  sort 
of  partnership  the  Lord  formed  when  he  went 
into  business  with  me.  He  put  in  all  the  capital 
and  supplied  all  the  brains,  only  asking  me  for 
very  modest  dividends;  and  I  haven't  given  him 
but  one  per  cent — strictly  speaking  only  half  of 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  147 

one  per  cent !  If  ever  a  man  felt  mean  to  the  tips 
of  his  toes,  I'm  that  man;  but  I'm  still  young, 
and  there's  an  opportunity  yet  to  prove  a  little 
less  like  the  wicked  husbandman.  I  hereby 
solemnly  promise  that  I  will  never  again  give 
my  Lord  less  than  ten  per  cent;  and  I  shall  try  in 
addition  to  pay  up  some  of  the  arrears." 

After  a  brief  period  of  silence,  Henry  Austin 
rose  to  his  feet,  saying:  ''I  presume  that  Horace 
Preston  has  expressed  pretty  nearly  the  feeling 
of  the  majority  of  us  in  view  of  the  discoveries 
we  have  made.  I  suppose  we  are  all  account- 
ing for  a  quarter  previous  to  the  recent  great 
changes  in  our  views  of  life.  No  doubt  our  ac- 
counts for  the  last  month  or  so  would  look 
better.  My  account  is  not  unlike  Preston's, 
except  that  I  have  no  family,  keep  up  no  house, 
and  have  not  ventured  on  an  automobile,  as  I 
am  just  finishing  college.  From  the  estate  of 
an  aunt  I  have  an  income  of  two  thousand  dol- 
lars a  year.  From  some  prizes  and  literary 
work  I  have  made  two  hundred  dollars  more, 
the  past  year,  so  that  my  income  for  the  quarter 
has  been  five  hundred  and  fifty  dollars;  and  I 
have  spent  it  about  as  follows: 

College       expenses,                   Conventions $18.00 

one-fourth  year.  .$255.00      Daily  papers 2.00 

Postage     and     sta-                   Y.  P.  S.  C.  E 1.30 

tionery i3-oo       Charity,     plus     old 

Books  and  pictures     27.00          clothes 2.50 

Theater,  opera  and  Foreign  missions ..  .  .50 

concerts 30.00      Clothing  and  shoes.  115.00 


148  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

Cabs  and  cars $15.00       Barber $8.00 

Confectionery,  flow-  Church  and  Sunday 

ers      and      other                       school 3.00 

amenities 40.00       Y.  M.  C.  A 1.25 

Baseball    and    foot-  Home  missions.  ...  i.oo 

ball  games 16.00  Sundries  unknown.  1.45 

That  is,  I  have  spent  every  cent,  but  can't  ac- 
count for  quite  all  of  it.  Including  church 
support,  which  is  not  benevolence,  I  have  given 
less  than  ten  dollars,  or  a  little  less  than  two 
per  cent  of  my  income,  which  is  really  worse  than 
Preston,  for  I  haven't  had  the  home  demands 
that  he  has  had.  And  all  the  time  I  was  con- 
gratulating myself  because  I  was  giving  twice 
as  much  to  foreign  missions  as  the  average  Pres- 
byterian church  member,  ignoring  the  fact  that 
I  had  more  than  four  times  the  income,  and  that 
averages  become  deadly  whenever  they  are  re- 
garded as  a  maximum  standard.  But  even  as  a 
minimum,  it  is  no  standard  at  all,  for  more  than 
half  the  church  is  giving  nothing,  and  not  more 
than  one  in  a  hundred  of  the  rest  treats  foreign 
missions  as  he  does  any  other  feature  of  his  life. 
Indeed,  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  we  have  not 
regarded  it  as  a  feature  of  our  lives,  but  as  a  duty 
to  be  done  once  a  year,  a  little  sop  to  be  thrown 
to  our  consciences;  then  the  rest  of  the  year, 
and  of  the  income,  may  be  devoted  to  other  more 
congenial  things.  And,  notwithstanding  all  that 
has  taken  place  in  our  church,  I  do  not  believe 
that  we  shall  have  the  matter  in  the  right  form 


ITB    YOU   ALWAYS  149 


until  the  whole  church  adopts  the  threefold  rule 
of  Scripture,  '  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let 
each  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  he  may 
prosper,'  that  is,  individual,  systematic,  propor- 
tional giving.  I  know  that  our  pastor  is  eager  to 
bring  this  about;  and  I  do  not  beUeve  we  could 
do  a  better  thing  than  agree  among  ourselves 
that  we  will  make  our  new  beginning  in  that 
way.  It  will  encourage  him  and  the  Missionary 
Committee  very  much." 

"You  remember,  that  first  week  of  this  new 
work,  how  Elder  Preston  said  that  his  two  dollars 
a  year  had  formerly  looked  like  two  hundred, 
but  had  come  to  look  Hke  the  proverbial  '  thirty 
cents'?"  spoke  up  Porter  Stanhope.  "I  heard 
the  other  day  of  a  wealthy  man  who  was  giving 
fifteen  dollars  a  year  to  missions,  and  thought 
himself  a  model,  for  he  was  gi\'ing  more  than  any- 
one else  in  the  church.  He  was  boasting  one 
day  to  a  mission  campaigner,  when  this  man 
turned  on  him  with,  'Mr.  Blank,  did  you  ever 
figure  how  much  that  is  a  w^eek?'  'No,  I  never 
did.  What's  the  use?'  'Well,  suppose  you  try, 
and  see  if  it  doesn't  look  very  much  Uke  thirty 
cents.'  When  that  wealthy  man  realized  that 
he  had  actually  been  boasting  of  thirty  cents  a 
week,  a  mere  fraction  of  what  he  spent  any  single 
day  on  selfish  indulgences,  given  for  the  greatest 
business  of  the  church,  the  evangelization  of  the 
world,  he  was  mortally  ashamed,  and  jumped  at 
once  to  two  dollars  a  week  as  a  starter.     I  have 


150  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

been  even  more  mortified  than  that,  for  I  have 
not  given  the  thirty  cents,  or  even  an  appreciable 
fraction  of  it.  As  my  grandfather  said,  that 
first  Sunday,  he  has  always  given  something  to 
the  support  of  missions,  and  so  has  my  father; 
but  I  have  never  been  led  to  think  that  anything 
of  that  sort  could  be  expected  of  me  until  I  was 
established  in  a  home  and  business  of  my  own. 
Even  the  support  of  the  church  has  always  been 
treated  as  my  father's  business,  not  mine;  and 
in  none  of  these  things  have  I  done  more  than 
drop  an  occasional  coin  into  the  collection.  My 
allowance  has  been  larger  than  Austin's;  my 
actual  college  expenses  about  the  same,  while 
the  rest  of  my  money  has  been  frittered  away 
much  w^orse  than  his;  and  I  don't  believe  that 
I  have  put  two  dollars  in  the  quarter  into  any- 
thing that  was  not  selfish.  We  young  men  pride 
ourselves  on  being  'level-headed,'  but  that  term 
seems  to  be  pretty  nearly  synonymous  with 
'able  to  take  care  of  No.  i.'  If  we  are  liberal 
in  standing  treat  with  the  other  fellows,  that 
passes  for  generosity;  and  if  we  give  away  the 
old  clothes  that  are  no  longer  in  fashion,  that 
passes  for  benevolence.  I  don't  believe  you  want 
my  accounts  in  detail:  there  is  too  much  mo- 
notony about  them.  Just  write  tobacco  in  place 
of  several  items  in  Austin's  account,  or,  rather, 
put  it  in  in  addition,  to  the  amount  of  fifty  dollars, 
and  you'll  not  be  very  far  off,  except  that  I  have 
run  through  more  money.     My  conscience  has 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  151 

been  telling  me  to  cut  out  the  tobacco,  as  well  as 
my  doctor;  but  as  the  latter  doesn't  cut  it  out 
himself,  I'm  not  sure  that  I  should  have  done  it 
if  I  hadn't  been  shamed  by  the  stand  taken  by 
my  aged  grandfather  and  the  rest  of  the  session. 
That  money  will  certainly  do  a  lot  more  good 
in  the  form  of  the  gospel  than  in  the  form  of 
smoke." 

''I've  often  wondered,"  remarked  Charlie 
Ransom,  in  his  whimsical  drawl,  "what  these 
friends  of  mine  who  have  lots  of  money  managed 
to  do  with  it  all;  and  now  I've  found  out.  I 
expected  to  be  able  to  say  a  number  of  big  round 
O's  after  they  had  read  their  accounts;  but 
they've  spent  their  money  a  lot  more  sensibly 
than  I  supposed  they  had.  About  the  only 
difference  between  them  and  me  is  that  they've 
traveled  first  class,  while  I've  traveled  third. 
It's  been  pretty  much  along  the  same  line  of 
railway,  and  we've  stopped  off  to  see  just  about 
the  same  sights.  They  took  a  coach  and  four 
to  see  the  Falls,  while  I  went  in  the  omnibus. 
They  puffed  cigars,  wliile  I  rolled  cigarettes. 
They  paid  a  dollar  a  pound  for  their  confectionery, 
while  I  paid  twenty  cents  for  my  candy.  They 
sat  in  the  boxes,  while  I  took  to  the  peanut  gallery. 
Their  books  were  bound  in  half  calf;  mine  in 
plain  cloth.  But  the  principle  is  all  the  same — 
or  the  lack  of  principle.  For  up  to  the  limit  of 
my  means  I  have  been  living  for  myself  just  as 
much  as  they  have,  and  the  amount  that  I  have 


152  Wifn    YOU   ALWAYS 

given  to  the  Lord  is  a  negligible  quantity.  I'll 
read  the  whole  list  if  you  want  it;  but  the  big 
items,  of  course,  are  for  the  playthings,  while 
the  pitifully  small  ones  are  for  life's  biggest 
business.  I  was  afraid  the  bonbons  had  spoiled 
my  appetite  for  the  substantial;  but  I've  found 
to-night,  under  the  coaxing  of  our  study  class, 
the  appetite's  coming  back;  and  I'm  right-down 
glad  that  it's  so.  The  amount  that  I  shall  have 
to  give  will  not  be  very  large,  but  it  will  bear 
a  more  respectable  relation  to  what  I  spend  on 
myself." 

''I  warned  you  all  last  week,"  said  Robert 
Weatherby,  "that  I  was  going  to  be  too  much 
ashamed  of  my  account  to  present  it.  It  is 
lopsided,  sure  enough;  but  I  think  I  really  ought 
to  read  it  because  my  circumstances,  like  Charlie's, 
are  so  different  from  Preston's  and  Austin's 
and  Stanhope's.  From  my  clerking  in  Breese 
and  McDowell's  I  receive  sixty  dollars  a  month, 
which  has  to  cover  everything,  for,  though  I 
live  at  home,  I  have  paid  my  board  since  I  began 
to  earn  enough.  So  my  hundred  and  eighty 
dollars  for  the  quarter  went  about  this  way: 

Board $65.00       Barber $     .75 

Books  and  papers.  .  .     3.75  Church  and  Sunday 

Lodge  fees 5.00  school 1.50 

Drinks,  hard  and  soft  14.30       Clothing 18.00 

Candy  and  gum.  ...     5.60  Vacation     excursion, 

Moving  pictures ...  .     3.75  one-fourth 7.40 

Washing 6.50      Tobacco 16.50 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  153 

Billiards  and  pool .  .  .  $8.00  Postage      and      sta- 

Theater 13-25           tionery $2.65 

Travel,    street    cars,  Jewelry 3.00 

etc 3.20       Charity 1.85 

You  will  see  that  it  is  not  merely  lopsided,  but 
that  I  have  been,  I  presume,  the  only  member 
of  our  class  to  spend  any  of  my  money  on  intoxi- 
cating drink.  So  I  have  a  double  reason  to  feel 
ashamed;  and  I  can  assure  you  that  it  is  only 
because  I  want  to  be  strictly  honest  that  I  bring 
you  my  account  at  all.  There  is  another  reason 
also,  and  that  is  that  I  have  made  up  my  mind 
to  'cut  it  out.'  But  I  am  not  so  foolish  as  to 
believe  that  I  am  strong  enough  for  it  myself; 
and  so  I  want  the  class  to  pray  for  me  that  Jesus 
Christ,  w^hom  I  now,  for  the  first  time,  take  as 
m.y  Sa\dour,  may  be  also  my  ever-present  friend, 
to  keep  me  in  the  hour  of  temptation,  and  to 
teach  me  to  want  to  give  to  him  the  share  that 
he  wants  of  that  which  he  gives  me.  Perhaps 
such  a  move  as  I  am  going  to  propose  should  not 
begin  with  me,  as  I  am  just  starting  my  Christian 
Ufe;  but  perhaps,  for  that  very  reason,  I  want  the 
more  to  start  right;  and  I  should  like  to  see  our 
whole  class  a  unit  in  two  respects,  one  a  deter- 
mination never  to  give  less  to  God's  work  than 
the  old  Jews  who  did  not  know  the  gospel,  and 
the  other  an  adoption  of  the  weekly  offering  plan. 
Why,  it  stands  to  reason  that  a  plan  which  works 
so  beautifully  in  business  will  work  well  in  the 
church.     We  all  know  that  a  very  large  per- 


154  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

centage  of  all  the  large  furniture,  pianos,  organs, 
sets  of  books,  houses,  land,  is  being  paid  for  by 
the  week  or  the  month ;  and  tens  of  thousands  of 
families  own  their  homes  who  never  could  have 
done  so  on  any  other  plan.  Two  thousand 
dollars  seems  far  out  of  the  workingman's  reach; 
but  five  dollars  a  v/eek  for  ten  years  is  a  very 
moderate  rental,  and  the  first  thing  a  man  knows, 
the  home  is  his.  Since  I  made  up  my  mind  to 
start  right  I've  been  looking  this  matter  up  a  bit, 
and  I  find  that  churches  which,  on  the  old  col- 
lection plan,  were  giving  twenty-five  dollars  a 
year  for  missions,  are  now,  on  the  weekly  offering 
plan,  giving  five  hundred  dollars,  and  those  which 
gave  five  hundred  dollars  are  finding  themselves 
able  to  give  from  two  to  five  thousand.  I  am 
sure  there  is  no  better  way  to  stop  some  of  these 
wasteful  expenditures  of  ours  than  to  feel  that, 
of  our  income,  so  much  per  week  is  not  ours  to 
waste.  Just  to  get  the  sense  of  the  class,  I  make 
a  motion  that  we  agree  never  to  give  less  than  a 
tenth  of  our  incomes  to  God's  work." 

"I  second  the  motion,"  said  Chester  Dan- 
forth,  a  close  friend  of  Weatherby.  ''It  seems 
to  me  the  most  businesslike  thing  we've  ever 
done,  and  I  need  it  just  as  badly  as  any  of  you. 
I  won't  take  the  time  with  my  account,  but  it  is 
like  the  rest,  and  very  like  Weatherby 's." 

"I  doubt  if  this  is  a  matter  which  can  be  de- 
termined by  majority  vote,"  remarked  the  presi- 
dent;  ''for  it  must  be  a  personal  conviction  and 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  155 

resolution  by  each  man  for  himself.  We  might 
have  an  informal  show  of  hands,  and  then  pre- 
pare a  paper  for  signatures  afterward,  if  it  seemed 
best.  I  believe  there  is  already  organized  some- 
where a  'Tenth  Legion,'  with  which  we  might 
associate  ourselves.  Their  pledge  is  to  give  not 
less  than  a  tenth.     Just  to  see  how  we  stand, 

all  those  who  would  like  to  make  this  pledge  " 

"Mr.  President,  before  we  take  that  vote, 
I  should  like  to  say  a  word,"  broke  in  Edward 
Harden,  in  a  quiet,  modest,  yet  determined  way, 
quite  different  from  his  former  violent  explosions 
of  opinion.  "For  years  I  have  had  the  name  of 
living,  and  have  been  dead.  Jesus  Christ  has  been 
nothing  to  me  but  a  name,  a  doctrine,  my  ac- 
knowledgment of  which  has  given  me  a  certain 
respectability,  a  degree  of  freedom  from  fear 
with  regard  to  the  future,  and,  I  am  afraid,  more 
than  a  degree  of  freedom  from  responsibility 
for  the  use  of  my  time  and  money.  I  have  been 
laboring  under  the  curious,  yet  common,  de- 
lusion that  a  Christian  is  held  to  a  less  strict 
account  than  a  non-Christian,  because  the  latter 
is  to  be  judged  by  the  law,  while  the  former  is 
under  mercy  and  grace.  It  never  dawned  on  me 
until  the  other  day  that  to  presume  on  the 
patience  and  long-suffering  of  God,  and  give 
him  less  as  my  Saviour  than  I  would  as  my  ruler 
and  judge,  was  the  height  of  ingratitude  and  the 
depth  of  cowardice.  I  was  furious  last  week 
at  the  suggestion  of  rendering  an  account  to  the 


156  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

other  members  of  the  class,  just  because  I  really 
haven't  been  proposing  to  render  an  account  to 
anyone.  But  when  we  began  to  look  into  that 
first  chapter  of  our  book,  the  question  kept 
intruding  itself  upon  my  mind,  if  missions  have 
this  motive  and  aim,  they  are  nothing  less  than 
the  thing  for  which  the  church  exists,  and  for 
which  Christ  came;  and  the  man  who  has  a  part 
in  the  church  and  in  Christ,  must  have  a  part  in 
missions.  When  Christ  came  into  the  world, 
it  was  to  free  men  from  responsibility  for  sin, 
but  surely  not  from  responsibiUty  for  service. 
Was  not  the  freedom  from  sin  to  be  the  very 
producing  cause  of  a  far  more  effective  service 
than  ever  before?  When  our  Heavenly  Father 
gives  to  us  of  this  world's  goods,  or  permits  us 
to  gain  them,  how  foolish  for  us  to  suppose  that 
it  is  his  aim  that  we  may  eat  and  drink  and  be 
merry  while  life  lasts!  Why  have  we  not  seen 
his  intention  that  by  the  rational  eating  and  drink- 
ing of  a  part  we  may  be  the  better  able  to  use 
the  rest  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  church's 
mission?  The  Bible  is  clear  enough,  'Whether 
ye  eat,  or  drink,  or  w^hatsoever  ye  do,  do  all  to 
the  glory  of  God.'  And  one  of  those  mottoes  in 
the  Sunday-school  room  has  pinned  itself  in  my 
memory.  Xhrist  is  either  Lord  of  all,  or  he 
is  not  Lord  at  all.'  I  feel  inclined  to  add  another 
couplet  to  that,  'Christ  is  either  Lord  of  all,  or 
he  is  not  Sa\iour  at  all.'  I  am  sure  to-night  that 
I  have  had  neither  part  not  lot  in  Jesus  Christ 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  157 


heretofore,  though  I  began  to  take  the  sacra- 
ment when  I  was  fifteen;  but  I  am  also  sure  that, 
in  spite  of  the  dishonor  and  shame  I  have  brought 
to  his  name,  he  has  accepted  me;  and  I  have 
promised  him  that  he  shall  be  my  Lord  of  all  to 
the  end  of  my  days.  I  assured  you  a  week  ago 
that  you  should  get  no  accounting  from  me.  But 
I  have  made  up  as  accurate  an  account  as  I 
could,  and,  as  a  wholesome  medicine  for  myself, 
would  read  it  to  you,  but  for  the  lateness  of  the 
hour.  I'll  sum  it  up  in  a  word  by  saying  that 
I've  spent  every  cent  of  my  income  and  run  in 
debt  a  hundred  dollars;  have  next  to  nothing  to 
show  for  it  in  the  way  of  books,  pictures,  or 
intellectual  uplift;  and  that  I  cannot  figure  up 
quite  tw^o  dollars  given  to  the  whole  range  of 
church  and  benevolent  objects.  It  could  hardly 
be  much  worse;  but  it  is  positively  the  last 
quarter  that  I  shall  ever  have  such  an  account  to 
be  ashamed  of.  And  I  say,  fellows,  I  want  to 
ask  you  to  pray  not  only  for  me,  but  also  for  my 
father.  If  ever  a  man  visibly  hardened  his  heart 
against  conviction,  he  is  doing  it  now,  and  he's 
just  miserable.  Neither  Lena  nor  I  can  get  even 
a  smile  out  of  him.  If  he  laughs,  it  is  in  a 
hollow,  cynical  fashion.  But  I  do  believe  prayer 
will  bring  him  around.  Bless  you,  fellows,  for 
being  so  patient  with  my  old  pig-headedness!" 

"T  want  a  word,  too,  Mr.  President,  before 
that  vote  is  taken,"  quickly  spoke  Herbert 
Thorne,  younger  brother  of  the  Deacon,  a  regular 


158  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

attendant  in  the  class,  but  heretofore  quite 
unapproachable  on  the  subject  of  personal  re- 
ligion. "I  have  been  a  good  deal  of  a  cynic 
also,  and  it  has  been  my  cynicism,  more  than  any- 
thing else,  that  has  kept  me  out  of  the  church. 
I  saw  too  many  of  what  I  styled  hypocrites  among 
the  members  of  Westminster  and  other  churches. 
I  did  not  think  my  brother  was  much  of  a  deacon. 
Our  teacher  here  was  a  nice  enough  man,  but  no 
better  with  rehgion  than  he  would  have  been 
without  it.  Most  of  our  elders  smoked,  while  I 
abhorred  the  habit.  Our  pastor  preached  good 
sermons,  but  was  v/ell  paid  for  them  and  didn't 
show  much  inclination  for  self-denial.  You 
fellows  who  were  church  members  were  using 
your  time  and  money,  I  thought,  more  foolishly 
and  wastefully  than  I;  and  I  knew  hardly  a 
person  in  the  church  who  didn't  have  money 
enough  to  do  anything  he  really  wanted  to  do, 
while  all  were  so  poor  when  the  church  made  a 
call.  In  fact,  I've  been  one  of  the  most  devoted 
mote-pickers  that  ever  was,  and  thought  that 
by  my  own  unaided  efforts  I  could  be  quite  as 
good  as  the  best  of  you.  But  with  all  my  picking 
I  couldn't  get  a  mote  out.  Then  recently  there 
has  come  along  One  who  has  spoken  a  word  to 
the  deacon  and  the  doctor  and  the  dominie 
and  the  elders  and  all  the  rest  of  you,  and  the 
motes  have  disappeared;  while  I  have  suddenly 
been  revealed  to  myself  as  almost  totally  blind 
by  reason  of  the  beam  that  was  in  mine  own  eye, 


WITH    VOU    ALWAYS  159 

the  beam  of  loveless  censoriousness.  All  my 
righteousnesses  have  been  made  to  appear  as 
filthy  rags;  and  in  these  rags  I  have  to-night 
thrown  myself  at  the  feet  of  Jesus,  to  be  cleansed 
and  clothed,  and  counted  henceforth  as  one  of 
his  humble  servants  to  do  his  bidding." 

While  Herbert  Thorne  was  speaking  the  last 
words,  Stephen  Talbot,  the  only  member  of  the 
class  who  had  not  yet  confessed  Christ,  rose 
quietly  and  left  the  house,  with  no  word  to  any- 
one. When  the  president  of  the  class  called 
again  for  a  show^  of  hands,  every  right  hand  in 
the  room,  went  up,  including  that  of  Dr.  Sears, 
who  said  as  they  separated: 

"Will  wonders  never  cease?  This  has  been  a 
blessed  night  in  the  history  of  our  class,  and  of  the 
kingdom.  Let  everyone  pray  for  Stephen  Tal- 
bot: our  number  must  be  complete." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

A   MISSIONARY    CANVASS 

THE  Missionary  Committee  determined  at 
its  next  meeting,  on  advice  from  the 
session  as  to  the  importance  of  estabhshing 
the  benevolent  offerings  of  the  church  on  the 
weekly  basis,  that  the  most  important  work 
before  the  committee  was  the  institution  of  an 
every-member  canvass.  While  it  was  not  pos- 
sible to  determine  that  every  member  of  the 
church  should  give  according  to  his  ability,  yet 
both  session  and  Missionary  Committee  were 
determined  that  that  ideal  should  be  the  standard 
of  whose  attainment  they  would  never  despair. 
So  great  had  been  the  results  already  attained 
that  they  were  not  without  hope  that  the  goal 
might  eventually  be  reached.  When  the  meet- 
ing had  been  opened  with  prayer,  and  Mr. 
Stanton  had  been  called  upon  for  communica- 
tions from  the  session,  or  any  word  of  suggestion, 
he  said: 

"The  plan  of  the  session  is  to  have  presented 
to  the  session  next  Sunday  the  great  desirability 
of  placing  all  the  gifts  of  the  church  on  a  weekly 
basis  of  subscription,  whatever  be  the  method  of 
payment,  some  finding  monthly  or  quarterly 
payments  more  convenient.  We  have  done  this 
for  some  time  in  the  matter  of  church  support, 
160 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  161 


ever  since  we  gave  up  the  custom  of  pew-letting 
because  it  perpetuated  caste  distinctions  in  the 
house  of  God.  We  have  unanimously  agreed  to 
adopt  the  'double  envelope,'  which  provides 
two  attached  but  readily  detachable  envelopes, 
one  for  church  support,  the  other  for  benefi- 
cence, with  full  opportunity  to  indicate  on  the 
envelope  the  preference  of  the  giver  for  particular 
forms  of  beneficence,  and  the  organization  in 
the  church  through  which  he  washes  the  money 
to  pass.  Perhaps  the  most  important  of  all  the 
functions  of  this  Missionary  Committee  is  the 
taking  of  the  plea  and  the  pledge  to  every  mem- 
ber of  our  church.  There  will  be  several  hundred 
whom  you  will  not  need  to  visit  because  they  will 
have  responded  to  the  first  request  from  the 
session  for  such  pledges.  Indeed,  it  is  delightful 
to  think  that  as  many  as  four-fifths,  or  even 
nine-tenths,  are  Hkely  to  respond  in  this  way,  so 
that  your  duties  will  be  lighter  than  they  would 
be  in  most  churches." 

"How  do  you  think  the  lists  should  be  divided 
up,  Mr.  Stanton?"  asked  Dr.  Sears. 

"I  should  say  that  where  there  is  such  intimate 
acquaintance  as  will  make  approach  easier,  you 
would  better  pick  out  old  friends;  but  in  the  case 
of  others,  usually  the  general  fitness  of  things 
will  indicate.  Yet  I  learn  from  the  experience 
of  others  that,  while  it  is  not  usually  wise  to  send 
the  poor  to  the  rich,  because  it  weakens  the 
appeal,  yet  it  is  often  very  effective  to  send  the 


162  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


rich  to  the  poor,  as  a  proof  of  the  fact  that  the 
church  means  business  and  that  the  poor  are  not 
despised.  I  notice  that  some  churches  are  com- 
pleting the  entire  canvass  in  a  very  short  time 
by  increasing  the  number  of  canvassers,  doing 
away  with  one  service  some  Sunday  and  devoting 
the  half  day  to  a  novel  'worshiping  of  God  by 
offerings '  through  the  \dsitation  of  every  member 
of  the  church  before  the  day  is  over.  I  think  it 
may  be  wise  for  us  to  try  the  slower  method  first, 
to  give  larger  opportunity  for  presenting  the 
matter  in  each  home;  but  we  might  wind  up  the 
campaign  with  a  second  attack  by  other  canvass- 
ers, on  those  who  fail  to  respond  the  first  time." 

''Is  it  the  wish  of  the  session  that  we  should 
make  one  canvass  for  church  support  and  another 
for  beneficence,  or  combine  the  two  in  one  can- 
vass?" asked  Mr.  George  Quincy. 

"We  are  inclined  to  make  but  one  canvass,  as 
that  will  save  time  and  labor,  put  in  service  at 
once  the  double  envelope  and  emphasize  the 
comparison  between  what  wo  are  doing  for  our- 
selves and  for  others." 

"I  wonder  if  it  would  not  be  a  good  plan  to 
report  the  operations  of  the  first  week  at  our  next 
meeting,  so  that  we  can  all  profit  by  the  experi- 
ence of  others,  as  well  as  our  own,"  suggested 
Mr.  Quincy. 

"I  certainly  hope  that  will  be  done,"  cordially 
assented  the  pastor. 

"I  hope  that  we  shall  not  attempt  this  thing 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  163 


single-handed,"  remarked  Elder  Wentworth. 
"You  know  we  are  told  that  one  shall  chase  a 
thousand  but  two  shall  put  ten  thousand  to 
flight.  I  heard  a  man  the  other  day  telling  how 
he  went  into  another  man's  office  to  get  a  contri- 
bution for  some  good  object,  and  came  out  again 
empty-handed  and  discouraged.  Meeting  a  more 
plucky  friend  on  the  street  and  bemoaning  his 
failure,  the  friend  offered  to  go  back  with  him 
and  try  again.  The  two  together  got  a  hun- 
dred dollars  out  of  that  man,  and  made  him  feel 
that  he  had  made  a  good  investment.  'At 
the  mouth  of  two  witnesses,'  you  know,  'shall  a 
matter  be  established.'  It  is  ten  times  as  hard 
to  turn  one's  back  on  duty  and  say  'No'  to  two 
men  as  it  is  to  one;  so  I  move  that  we  do  Uke 
the  disciples,  when  Jesus  sent  them  out,  go  two 
by  two." 

"It  may  take  longer  to  cover  the  ground  that 
way,"  said  Mr.  Stanton;  "but  I  have  no  doubt 
that  the  contributions  will  be  larger,  and  more 
intelligent  and  cheerful.  We  mil  see  to  it  that 
all  the  pledge  cards,  the  record  sheets,  the  enve- 
lopes, and  some  printed  leaflets,  are  ready  to  be 
given  out  on  Sunday,  and  will  meet  at  the  close 
of  the  evening  service  to  assign  to  the  members 
of  the  committee  the  names  of  all  those  who  may 
not  have  handed  in  their  pledges  during  the  day, 
that  you  may  begin  work  at  once." 

"I  foresee  one  difficulty,  Mr.  Stanton,"  said 
Dr.    Sears;  "and   that   is   that   our   committee 


164  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 


represents  only  the  benevolent  work  of  the  church. 
The  trustees  are  not  in  this  at  all.  Will  they  not 
feel  this  oversight,  be  out  of  sympathy  with  the 
whole  matter,  and  thus  hinder  the  work?" 

''That  is  a  matter  of  which  I  was  just  about  to 
speak,"  rephed  the  pastor;  ''T  think  we  should 
by  all  means  associate  with  us  in  this  work  the 
board  of  trustees.  It  m^ay  prove  good  for  them  as 
well  as  for  those  whom  they  \'i5it.  They  meet 
to-morrow  evening,  and  I  will  see  that  the  matter 
is  brought  before  them.  I  beueve  that  I  can 
demonstrate  to  them  that  the  canvass  for  benevo- 
lence, so  far  from  decreasing  the  gifts  to  church 
support,  will  largely  increase  them.  It  has  cer- 
tainly done  so  in  hundreds  of  other  churches 
which  have  tried  it." 

All  the  sub-committees  had  been  actively  at 
work,  and  had  much  to  report  as  to  the  securing 
of  Hterature  for  a  library,  the  preparation  of  a 
special  programme  for  the  next  missionary  meet- 
ing, and  other  progressive  measures.  One  of  the 
special  features  of  this  next  meeting  was  to  be  the 
presentation  of  a  foreign  mission  topic  b}^  one 
most  interested  in  home  missions,  and  of  a  home 
mission  topic  by  a  foreign  mission  enthusiast. 

At  the  meeting  of  the  trustees  the  next  e^'ening 
it  did  not  prove  difficult  to  persuade  them  of  the 
^\^sdom  of  joining  in  the  canvass;  and  they  ap- 
pointed a  number  of  their  own  members  equal  to 
the  membership  of  the  Missionary  Committee, 
though  one  or  two  of  the  board  were  still  skeptical 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  165 


as  to  the  effect  upon  local  church  support  of  this 
great  de\Tlopment  of  interest  in  missions. 

On  the  following  Sabbath  morning  Mr.  Stan- 
ton presented  to  the  congregation  the  plan  in 
its  entirety,  using  I  Corinthians  i6:  2  as  his 
text.  He  recounted  in  a  few  words  the  marvelous 
changes  of  the  past  few  wTeks  in  foreign  mission 
interest,  and  presented  also  concisely  the  appeal- 
ing needs  of  America,  the  new  towns  of  the  west, 
Alaska,  Porto  Rico  and  Cuba,  the  foreign  commu- 
nities in  our  cities  and  towns,  the  negroes  and  the 
mountain  whites,  the  incoming  immigrants,  of  the 
denominational  schools  and  colleges,  of  the  publi- 
cation of  good  literature  and  the  organization  of 
Sunday  schools.  Then  he  appealed  for  local  chari- 
ties, for  the  poor,  the  sick,  the  disabled  and  the  un- 
fortunate; and  finally  appealed  for  a  more  univer- 
sal and  systematic  contribution  to  the  current 
expenses  of  the  local  church.  He  illustrated  the 
effect  of  f ollo\dng  the  scriptural  rule  of  weekly  giv- 
ing by  the  example  of  many  churches  which  had 
increased  their  contributions  from  two  to  twenty, 
or  even  a  hundredfold,  when  weekly  offerings 
were  introduced;  and  expressed  the  earnest 
desire  of  the  entire  session  that  each  member 
should  base  his  gifts  to  these  causes  upon  the 
manner  in  which  God  had  prospered  him,  that 
is,  in  proportion  to  his  income,  ever  bearing  in 
mind  that  the  question  is  not  "How  much  of  my 
money  shall  I  give  to  God?  "  but  "How  much  of 
God's  money  shall  I  keep  for  myself?  "     He  then 


166  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

described  the  new  envelopes  and  the  pledges,  the 
opportunity  given,  on  the  latter,  to  each  indi- 
vidual, for  free  specification  as  to  the  division  to 
be  made  of  his  benevolent  contributions,  any 
unspecified  offerings  to  be  divided  according  to 
the  judgment  of  the  session.  He  urged  the  vol- 
untary making  of  these  pledges  by  every  member 
of  church  and  congregation,  young  and  old,  so 
as  to  render  unnecessary  any  personal  solicita- 
tion. If,  however,  any  felt  in  need  of  more  light, 
their  failure  to  pledge  would  be  considered  an 
invitation  to  the  committee  appointed  for  the 
purpose  to  wait  upon  them  in  their  homes. 
Pledge  cards  and  pencils  would  be  found  in  the 
pews,  that  all  might  take  immediate  action; 
but  pledges  would  also  be  received  at  the  evening 
service.  The  committee  would  begin  its  work 
on  Monday. 

Earnestly,  tenderly,  was  that  great  congrega- 
tion led  in  prayer  by  its  pastor,  that  the  business 
act  of  that  day  might  be  the  glad  expression  of 
the  life  in  Christ  and  for  Christ  of  each  member 
of  the  church,  or  of  the  desire  for  a  fuller  life  on 
the  part  of  those  who  had  not  yet  come  into  that 
vital  relation  to  him;  that  the  church  might 
become  absolutely  a  unit  in  its  recognition  of 
that  Christian  stewardship  which  was  not  bond- 
age or  hardship,  but  liberty  and  delight;  and 
that  the  windows  of  heaven  might  be  opened  yet 
more  widely  to  the  church  thus  seeking  to  bring 
all  the  tithes  into  the  storehouse.     A  few  minutes 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  167 

were  then  given  to  unhurried,  silent  prayer  and 
meditation,  after  which,  seeing  once  more  their 
Lord  seated  "over  against  the  treasury,"  the 
congregation  busied  themselves  for  a  time  with 
pencils,  and  then  filed  past  the  treasury  and  de- 
posited their  cards.  The  service  was  almost  as 
impressive  as  those  on  the  Sunday  of  vision,  and 
few  of  those  present  failed  to  drop  their  cards 
into  the  chest.  At  the  evening  service  those 
who  had  not  been  present  or  prepared  in  the 
morning  were  given  an  opportunity. 

When  the  committee  met  to  count  the  cards, 
it  was  found  that,  with  a  membership  of  eight 
hundred  and  twenty,  fifty  of  whom  were  non- 
resident, there  were  nine  hundred  and  four 
pledges.  Analysis  showed  that  all  the  resident 
members  except  seventeen  had  made  a  pledge, 
though  twelve  of  the  number  had  pledged  nothing 
for  benevolence,  and  five  others  had  excluded 
foreign  missions  from  their  pledges.  Thus  one 
hundred  and  fifty-one  non-members  had  made 
pledges,  one  hundred  and  twenty-three  of  which 
included  benevolence,  though  thirty-six  of  these 
omitted  foreign  missions.  About  two-thirds 
accepted  the  session's  apportionment  of  their 
gifts;  many  ladies  stipulated  that  their  gifts 
should  go  through  the  Women's  Society,  and 
young  people  made  the  same  stipulation  as  to  the 
Young  People's  Society  of  Christian  Endeavor. 
The  results  had  exceeded  the  anticipations  of  all; 
and  the  committee  found  its  task  limited  to  the 


168  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

visitation  of  thirty-four  resident  members  and 
about  eighty  regular  attendants,  sixteen  of  whom 
had  pledged  nothing,  the  others,  having  begun  to 
contribute,  being  regarded  as  hopeful  subjects  of 
personal  work.  The  committee  had  decided  that, 
as  there  were  so  many  in  the  church  quite  as  much 
in  earnest  as  themselves,  they  would  double  the 
force  of  \dsitors,  so  that  ten  pairs  of  consecrated 
Christians  divided  among  themselves  the  one 
hundred  and  fourteen  to  be  visited,  determined 
to  do  their  utmost  to  complete  the  work  within 
the  week.  The  pastor  agreed  to  see  the  odd  four 
himself,  especially  as  there  were  that  number 
whose  circumstances  were  so  pecuhar  as  to  render 
it  wise  that  he  should  see  them. 

Among  these  four  were  an  old  man  and  his 
wdfe,  who  apparently  possessed  nothing  but 
their  tiny  old  cottage,  some  distance  out  of 
town.  Both  were  in  feeble  health,  the  husband 
unable  to  do  more  than  odd  jobs,  while  his  wiie 
took  in  a  little  sewing.  It  was  e\'ident  to  all 
that  they  had  scarcely  enough  to  keep  body  and 
soul  together;  and  when  their  names  were  read 
several  of  the  committee  suggested  that  they  be 
omitted  from  the  hst.  The  pastor  was  about  to 
speak,  when  Elder  Wentworth  exclaimed: 

"WTiat!  you  aren't  going  to  deprive  them  of 
their  Christian  privileges  just  because  they're 
poor,  are  you?  I  should  call  that '  respect  of  per- 
sons.' I  believe  if  our  pastor  should  go  to  them 
and  offer  them  a  share  in  this  newly  appreciated 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  169 


privilege  of  ours,  by  a  very  small  regular  offering, 
it  would  brighten  their  lives  amazingly.  It  may 
be  they're  ashamed  to  offer  the  two  mites  because 
they  do  not  know  that  they  count  for  more  than 
the  rich  man's  abundance.  And  I  believe  it  will 
be  fine  for  the  church  to  know  that  even  these 
poorest  of  the  people,  themselves  at  times  the 
objects  of  charity,  want  a  part  in  the  eA-angeliza- 
tion  of  the  world.  After  all,  every  one  of  us  is 
an  object  of  charity, — God's  charity, — and  we're 
just  now  planning  how  to  use  his  donations  so  as 
to  glorify  him." 

Again  the  beloved  disciple  had  fathomed  the 
heart  of  the  Master,  and  there  was  none  to  dis- 
pute the  wisdom  of  his  words.  The  pastor  went, 
the  very  next  day,  to  see  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Granger, 
and  found  them  both  at  home,  no  work  having 
offered  for  the  man,  who  was  preparing  the  frugal 
meal,  while  his  wife  stitched  away  on  some  cloth- 
ing sent  in  to  be  mended.  They  welcomed  the 
minister  with  glad  faces,  but  with  many  apolo- 
gies for  the  Hmited  quarters  afforded  by  their  one 
living  room: 

''It's  but  a  poor  place  in  which  to  receive  our 
minister,  Mr.  Stanton;  but  it's  glad  indeed  we 
are  to  see  you,  sir.  If  it  were  not  for  the  work 
you  have  sent  to  us,  and  the  clothing  and  the 
money  that  have  come  now  and  then  from  the 
church,  we  should  never  have  been  able  to  pull 
through;  for,  what  with  my  rheumatism  and  the 
wife's  neuralgia,  we  are  not  good  for  much.     But 


170  WITB    YOU   ALWAYS 

God  has  been  very  good  to  us;  and  I  only  wish  I 
was  strong  and  well  so  that  I  could  have  some 
part  in  these  new  doings  at  the  church." 

"Well,  why  shouldn't  you  have  a  part  in  them, 
Mr.  Granger?  Neither  rheumatism  nor  neuralgia 
can  disable  the  arm  of  prayer,  which,  after  all,  is 
the  greatest  power  in  the  evangelization  of  the 
world,  if  it  be  genuine  and  backed  up  with  all 
the  power  we  have.  God  cannot  do  much  toward 
answering  the  lazy  man's  prayer;  but  he  can  do 
everything  for  the  helpless  man  who  prays.  As 
to  the  gifts,  you  know  we  are  told  that  they  are 
always  estimated  '  according  as  a  man  hath,  not 
according  as  he  hath  not.' " 

''Yes,  Mr.  Stanton,  there's  a  lot  of  comfort  in 
that,"  said  Mr.  Granger;  "yet  one  doesn't  feel 
right  in  not  gi\ang  when  other  people  are  gi\dng 
and  when  the  work  needs  it  so  much.  I  believe 
we  could  do  something  by  pinching  a  little 
closer.  We  could  give  up  a  cup  of  tea  now  and 
then,  and  one  of  our  two  weekly  meals  of  meat 
occasionally.  They  do  say  that  beans  are  just 
as  nourishing  as  meat,  and  they  cost  less.  But 
what  we  could  save  wouldn't  be  enough  to  do 
anything  with.  And  then,  too,  it  doesn't  look 
just  right  to  give  anything  away  when  we  are 
objects  of  charity  ourselves." 

"  But  why  not,  Mr.  Granger?  Everything  that 
any  of  us  has  comes  from  God,  some  of  it  through 
his  blessing  on  our  work,  some  of  it  through  other 
servants  of  his  when  we  are  unable  to  work;  and 


WITS    YOU   ALWA  YS  171 

if  we  choose  to  deny  ourselves  in  order  to  have  a 
share  in  his  great,  blessed  work,  do  you  think  he 
could  possibly  be  displeased?'* 

"No;  I  wasn't  thinking  so  much  of  him  as  of 
folks,  Mr.  Stanton.  They  might  think  wt  were 
accepting  their  help  when  we  chdn't  need  it." 

"If  I  hear  of  anyone  who  thinks  that  way,  I'll 
invite  him  to  come  over  here  and  make  you  a 
call,  to  cure  him  of  any  such  idea.  And  as  to 
what  you  could  give  not  being  enough  to  do  any- 
thing with,  do  you  remember  what  the  Lord  said 
about  the  poor  widow's  two  mites?  I  am  inclined 
to  think  that  he  meant  not  only  that  they  counted 
for  more  with  him  than  the  abundance  of  the 
rich,  but  that  they  would  actually  do  more. 
How  many  of  the  millions  which  have  since  been 
given  by  rich  and  poor  do  you  suppose  have  been 
inspired  by  that  woman's  example  and  the  Lord's 
words,  or  drawn  forth  by  the  shame  of  the  com- 
parison? Those  two  mites  have  done  the  work 
of  millions." 

"I  suppose  that's  true,  Mr.  Stanton,"  replied 
the  old  man;  "and  we  should  like  to  do  a  little; 
but  the  smallest  figure  on  your  pledge  card  is 
five  cents  a  week,  and  I  doubt  if  we  could  give 
that  much  apiece  by  any  hook  or  crook." 

"But  there  is  a  blank  space  on  the  card  for  any 
amounts  other  than  those  mentioned.  Make  it 
two  cents  a  week,  or  five  cents  between  you,  if 
you  like." 

"Well,  I  think  we  can  do  that,  unless  we  have 


172  WI  T  H    YOU    AL  W  A  Y  S 

some  big  set-back;  and  we'll  be  so  glad  to  have 
a  part  in  it  all.  Wife  and  I  were  talking  last 
night  about  that  idea  of  'locked-up  missionaries.' 
She  has  an  old  breastpin  laid  away  in  her  drawer: 
it  isn't  the  style  they  wear  now;  but  we  were 
wondering  if  it  would  sell  for  anything  that  we 
could  give  to  pay  up  some  of  our  back  dues  for 
the  Lord's  work.  We  haven't  liked  to  sell  her 
mother's  pin  for  our  own  uses,  but  if  it  will  help 
to  save  souls  it  seems  a  pity  to  keep  it  laid  away.'' 
And  the  old  man  walked  over  to  the  bureau  and 
took  out  the  brooch,  handing  it  first  to  his  wife, 
who  touched  it  lovingly,  and  then  handed  it  to 
the  pastor,  who  took  it  very  reverently  as  a 
sacred  thing,  gave  a  start  of  surprise  at  its  beauty, 
and  promised  to  try  to  sell  it. 

From  the  cottage  of  poverty  the  pastor  made 
his  way  to  the  home  of  wealth,  set  in  the  midst  of 
lawns  and  gardens,  the  handsome  residence  of 
Vincent  Schuyler,  a  retired  business  man,  one  of 
the  trustees  of  the  church,  and  by  far  the  richest 
man  in  the  city,  yet  a  man  of  such  a  peculiar 
disposition  that  none  of  the  committee  had  been 
\dning  to  deal  ^\ith  him,  but  had  begged  their 
pastor  to  go.  No  one  had  much  faith  that  his 
name  could  be  secured  on  a  pledge  for  missions. 
Mr.  Stanton  found  him  in  his  garden,  ^^'ith 
sleeves  rolled  above  the  elbow,  working  himself 
and  superintending  the  work  of  his  gardeners. 

''Good  morning,  Mr.  Stanton,"  he  called,  as 
the  minister  approached.     "You  see  I  like  to 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  173 


'mingle  with  the  soil.'  It's  a  fine  way  to  pass 
the  time,  which  hangs  rather  heavily  at  times  on 
the  hands  of  a  man  who  has  retired  from  active 
business.  My  wife  and  daughters  make  it  lively 
enough,  in  the  house  and  out,  goodness  knows; 
but  a  man  like  myself  gets  a  bit  tired  of  women's 
doings.  But  what  brings  you  here  so  early  in 
the  day,  and  the  v/eek?  I  thought  this  was  '  blue 
Monday'  with  you  ministers.  You  will  go  away 
blue  enough,  I  can  assure  you,  if  you  have  come 
to  talk  about  missions,  as  I  suspect  you  have.  I 
turned  in  my  pledge  yesterday  for  the  support  of 
the  church,  and  it  was  larger  than  ever  before; 
but  not  one  cent  am  I  going  to  subscribe  to  mis- 
sions. If  I  run  across  any  w^orthy  objects  of 
charity  during  the  year,  I'll  give  to  them  w^hat  I 
think  is  right;  and  if  any  public  enterprises 
strike  me  as  deserving  of  help,  I'll  put  some  of  my 
money  into  them;  but  I  haven't  any  money  to 
throw  away  on  the  rascally  Chinese  or  the  beastly 
Africans;  and  as  for  that  home  mission  work  out 
in  the  west,  why  it's  just  a  fight  of  the  denomina- 
tions to  crowd  or  starve  one  another  out.  Since 
I  saw  six  churches,  all  depending  on  home  mis- 
sion boards,  in  a  town  of  five  hundred  people,  I 
have  thrown  no  more  of  my  money  away  on 
home  missions.  When  I  give  my  money  for 
work,  I  like  to  see  that  work  done  under  my  own 
eye,  and  then  I  know  my  money  isn't  wasted. 
My  money  was  all  earned  by  hard  work,  Mr. 
Stanton,  and  I  propose  to  see  that  it  isn't  frittered 


174  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

away.  And  then,  I  don't  like  these  pledges, — 
except  for  church  support,  where  we  have  to  have 
a  certain  amount  regularly, — for  they  take  away 
that  spontaneity  which  is  the  most  beautiful 
thing  about  true  benevolence.  Every  appeal 
ought  to  stand  on  its  own  feet,  and  if  it  appeals  to 
me  I  will  give.  But  I  haven't  even  offered  you  a 
seat,  Mr.  Stanton:  come  over  and  sit  down  in 
the  arbor,  where  we  can  talk  better." 

Just  as  they  were  seating  themselves  in  the 
arbor,  Mr.  Stanton  much  amused  at  the  fashion 
in  which  this  man  had  placed  himself  on  the  de- 
fensive without  waiting  for  a  word,  there  came 
ringing  over  the  lawn  a  girl's  clear  voice,  calling, 
"Father!  father!  where  are  you?"  The  father's 
reply  brought  the  tripping  feet  and  the  merry, 
eager  face  of  a  charming  girl  of  nineteen  to  the 
arbor.  Not  in  the  least  disconcerted  at  sight  of 
the  minister,  she  extended  her  hand,  cr>dng: 

"Oh,  good  morning,  Mr.  Stanton;  isn't  this  a 
lovely  day?  O  father,  Mr.  Sprague  has  just  come 
with  that  new  touring  car  you  were  going  to  look 
at.  I'm  going  for  a  ride  with  him  now  to  try  it; 
but  I  know  I  shall  Hke  it;  and  I  just  wanted  to 
ask  you  if  I  might  take  it  if  it  works  all  right. 
You  know  our  car  is  two  years  old,  and  it's  really 
too  shabby  for  anything  except  long  country  tours 
in  muddy  weather.  This  one  costs  only  forty-five 
hundred  dollars;  and  Mr.  Sprague  said  that  for 
an  extra  five  hundred  dollars  he  would  put  on 
some  finer  lamps  and  tanks,  and  an  extra  top  of 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  175 


a  different  sort, — a  new  idea, — making  it  really 
seem  like  two  cars.  Mr.  Stanton,  when  I  get  to 
know  the  new  car  perfectly,  I  am  coming  round 
some  day  to  take  you  and  Mrs.  Stanton  and  the 
children  for  a  long  ride.  The  car  holds  seven. 
Now  do  please  hurry  up  and  say  'yes,'  daddy; 
and  then  I'll  go  away  and  you  two  can  talk  all 
the  business  you  want  to." 

"Well,  Lucile,  I'd  like  to  see  the  man  who  coul^ 
say  no  to  you,  when  you  once  start  coaxing.  If 
you  hke  the  car,  tell  Sprague  to  charge  it  to  me. 
And  if  it's  only  a  matter  of  five  hundred  dollars, 
you'd  better  have  the  extras.  I  tell  you,  Mr. 
Stanton,"  he  added,  as  his  daughter  tripped  joy- 
fully away,  "one  of  the  nicest  things  about  having 
money  is  to  let  a  girl  Hke  that  play  ducks  and 
drakes  with  it, — within  limits,  of  course;  within 
Hmits,  of  course.  But  now,  what  I  was  saying 
before  that  whirlwind  arrived,  was  this  " 

"If  you'll  let  me  say  just  a  word,  Mr.  Schuy- 
ler," broke  in  the  minister  in  desperation,  taking 
the  antique  brooch  from  his  pocket,  "I  brought 
over  this  morning  for  your  inspection,  as  a  con- 
noisseur, one  of  the  most  attractive  Httle  curios 
that  I  have  seen  in  a  long  time.  Remembering 
your  fine  collection  of  mounted  and  unmounted 
jewels,  I  thought  possibly  this  jewel  might  find  a 
discriminating  purchaser.  I  am  selhng  it  for 
the  owner";  and  he  held  out  the  pin  to  the  now 
eager  man,  who  looked  it  over  and  held  it  to  the 
light  with  kindling  eyes,  and  finally  exclaimed: 


17G  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


''Well,  Mr.  Stanton,  you  wouldn't  have  dared 
to  carry  that  loose  in  your  pocket  if  you  had 
known  what  a  treasure  it  is!  The  setting  is  one 
of  Tayler's  most  unique  designs,  of  the  early 
seventeenth  century;  the  opal  is  one  of  the  rich- 
est, most  beautiful  I  have  ever  seen,  and  that 
circle  of  diamonds,  though  small,  is  of  the  first 
water.  I  can  tell  you  right  now,  without  your 
going  any  farther,  that  the  pin  is  worth  every  bit 
of  two  thousand  dollars,  and  I  will  gladly  pay  that 
for  it  to  add  to  my  collection." 

"I  felt  sure  when  I  saw  the  brooch  that  it  was 
worth  far  more  than  the  owners  supposed,  per- 
haps some  tens  or  hundreds  of  dollars.  But  if  it 
is  worth  as  much  as  two  thousand,  I  think  I  would 
better  consult  the  owners  before  I  sell."  And 
without  referring  to  the  subject  of  missions, 
greatly  to  the  surprise  of  Mr.  Schuyler,  the  pastor 
took  up  his  hat  to  go. 

''You  are  welcome  to  inquire  anywhere  as  to 
its  value,  Mr.  Stanton;  but  I  hope  you  wdll  give 
me  the  refusal  of  it.  It  is  one  of  my  greatest 
pleasures  to  put  my  money  into  these  quaint  and 
beautiful  things  which  cannot  be  matched  else- 
where. By  the  way,  Mr.  Stanton,  you  haven't 
seen  that  Rembrandt  I  secured  last  week,  have 
you?  Come  in  and  see  it  before  you  go."  And 
he  led  the  minister  to  his  spacious  art  gallery  and 
showed  him  with  pride  and  reverence  his  latest 
acquisition  among  a  host  of  others.  "It  was 
cheap  at  seventy-five  thousand  dollars,"  he  said. 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  177 


"for  you  know  a  genuine  Rembrandt  is  not  often 
to  be  had  in  these  days." 

After  giving  full  admiration  to  the  picture,  Mr. 
Stanton  hastened  first  to  the  chief  jeweler  of  the 
town,  who  also  went  into  ecstasies  over  the 
brooch  and  appraised  it  at  twenty-five  hundred 
dollars;  then  to  the  cottage  of  the  poor  old  couple, 
who  were  greatly  surprised  to  see  him  again  so 
soon. 

"I  have  found  a  purchaser  for  your  brooch, 
Mrs.  Granger,"  he  said;  "but  it  proves  to  be  so 
much  more  \aluable  than  you  supposed  that  I 
did  not  venture  to  sell  until  I  had  consulted  you 
again.  It  is  a  very  rare  piece  of  jewelry  that  you 
have  had  laid  up  here  so  long,  and  will  bring 
enough  to  make  you  comfortable  for  many  a  day, 
and  to  pro\'ide  a  handsome  contribution  for  the 
Lord's  work  besides.  It  is  worth  twenty-five 
hundred  dollars;  and  if  you  wish  me  to  sell  it  for 
that,  you  can  put  the  money  in  the  bank,  and 
then  make  out  a  check  for  w^hat  you  wish  to  give 
to  the  Lord." 

"What's  that  you  say,  pastor?  My  mother's 
old  breastpin  worth  twenty-five  hundred  dollars? 
Well,  she  never  had  that  to  give  for  it,  so  it  must 
have  come  down  from  richer  ancestors." 

"Yes;  it  was  made  more  than  two  hundred 
years  ago,  so  that  part  of  its  value  is  in  its  age." 

"Well,  Mr.  Stanton,  I  never  expected  to  have 
any  such  sum  of  money  as  that  to  put  into  the 
Lord's  work;  but  it's  glad  I  am  to  be  able  to  un- 


178  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

lock  a  missionary  that  I  never  knew  I  had  locked 
up  here!  You  just  sell  the  pin  for  what  it  will 
bring,  and  some  day  when  you  have  time  we'll 
plan  how  to  put  the  money  into  the  work  in  such 
a  way  that  we  shall  feel  it  is  doing  the  Lord's  work 
for  us." 

"But,  Mrs.  Granger,  in  your  circumstances  you 
will  surely  wish  to  use  some  of  this  money  to 
make  yourself  and  Mr.  Granger  more  comforta- 
ble. It  seems  as  if  God  had  sent  it  to  make  your 
way  easier,  and  let  you  have  a  part  in  his  work 
besides.  I  could  not  think  of  accepting  it  all  for 
that  work." 

"Well,  Mr.  Stanton,  if  you'll  excuse  my  saying 
it,  it's  not  you  I'm  asking  to  do  the  accepting  of 
it.  Mr.  Granger  and  I,  we  gave  that  pin  to  the 
Lord,  and  to  the  Lord  it  belongs,  whatever  it  may 
be  worth.  We'll  be  none  the  poorer  for  parting 
with  it  at  twenty-five  hundred  dollars  than  we 
would  have  been  at  five  dollars,  and  we  should 
feel  as  if  we  were  robbing  God  if  we  said  to  him, 
'We  were  ready  to  give  you  our  only  treasure  if  it 
was  worth  five  dollars,  but  twenty-five  hundred  is 
too  much  for  you.'  God  will  provide  for  us,  we 
are  sure  of  that,  and  we've  no  need  to  begrudge 
him  his  good  fortune,  sir.  At  the  most,  it  won't 
go  very  far  toward  saving  the  Chinese  from  their 
superstition  and  the  Africans  from  their  degrada- 
tion. I  only  wish  it  was  a  hundred  times  that 
much  that  we  had  to  give,  Mr.  Stanton." 

Marveling  at   the  faith  and   consecration   of 


WITH    YO  U    A  L  W  A  Y  S  179 

these  poor,  despised  disciples,  whose  deep  poverty 
was  so  abounding  unto  the  riches  of  their  liberal- 
ity, the  minister  knelt  for  a  moment  of  grateful 
prayer  for  God's  blessing  on  the  gift  and  on  the 
givers;  then,  placing  the  brooch  carefully  in  an 
inner  pocket,  he  hastened  again  to  the  home  of 
Vincent  Schuyler,  and  finding  him  at  leisure, 
took  out  the  brooch  and  said: 

"  Mr.  Schuyler,  this  proves  to  be  a  remarkable 
gem  in  more  senses  than  one.  Haynes  the  jew- 
eler was  as  interested  as  you,  and  after  examining 
the  stones,  told  me,  of  his  own  accord,  that  the 
pin  is  worth  every  cent  of  twenty-five  hundred 
dollars.  But  by  far  the  most  remarkable  thing 
about  it  is  the  wish  of  its  owner  concerning  it. 
That  owTier  is  none  other  than  old  Mrs.  Granger, 
of  whose  struggle  with  poverty,  shared  with  her 
infirm  husband,  you  already  know  considerable. 
Belie\-ing  profoundly  that  no  member  of  our 
church,  or  any  other,  will  ever  be  in  right  rela- 
tion to  the  present  world  or  the  world  to  come,  to 
God  our  Father  or  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  unless 
he  has  some  part,  according  as  God  has  prospered 
him,  in  the  great  work  of  Christ  and  the  church, 
the  gi\ing  of  the  gospel  to  the  whole  world,  I  did 
not  feel  that  even  the  poorest  members  of  the 
church  should  be  denied  that  privilege;  so  I 
went  to  see  what  the  Grangers  would  wish  to  do, 
and  be  able  to  do,  in  this  direction." 

"Why,  they're  objects  of  charity  themselves!" 
broke  in  Mr.  Schuyler,  contemptuously.     "WTio 


180  W  IT  H    YOU    ALWAYS 

ever  heard  of  going  begging  of  beggars?  They 
laughed  at  you,  didn't  they?  " 

"No,  indeed,  they  did  not  laugh.  I  found  that 
one  of  their  great  griefs  was  their  fear  that  they 
could  never  have  a  part  with  others  in  the  great 
work.  Did  you  never  read  in  the  Scriptures,  Mr. 
Schuyler,  of  the  poor  widow  who  cast  her  mites 
into  the  treasury,  and  was  commended  by  our 
Lord  as  having  given  more  than  all  the  rich  men 
who  had  cast  in  of  their  abundance?  These  poor 
people  near  you  coveted  that  commendation,  and 
having  no  money  to  give,  they  brought  out  their 
only  treasure,  of  the  value  of  which  they  had  no 
idea,  and  asked  me  to  sell  it  for  the  cause  which 
lay  nearest  the  Master's  heart,  the  seeking  and 
saving  of  the  lost,  whether  they  be  rascally 
Chinese,  beastly  Africans,  or  gospel-hardened 
Americans." 

"Ha!  Ha!  I  guess  they  changed  their  minds 
when  you  told  them  you  could  get  twenty-five 
hundred  dollars  for  their  treasure,  didn't  they? 
That  amount  in  the  bank  will  relieve  their  neigh- 
bors of  any  responsibility  for  them  for  some  time 
to  come.  I  am  glad  my  money  will  serve  so  good 
a  purpose.  Excellent  old  people,  the  Grangers. 
My,  but  I  should  like  to  have  seen  their  eyes  bulge 
when  you  told  them  of  their  good  fortune! " 

"Well,  Mr.  Schuyler,  I  just  wish  you  had  been 
there,  for  I  truly  think  your  eyes  would  have  done 
the  bulging.  What  will  you  say  when  I  tell  you 
that  those  people  rejected  with  indignation  every 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  181 

proposal  of  mine  for  the  placing  of  that  money  in 
the  bank  for  their  own  use, — after  giving  a  sum 
to  missions, — and  insisted  that  that  pin  had  been 
given  to  the  Lord  regardless  of  its  value,  and  to  the 
Lord  it  must  go?  Their  faces  fairly  glowed  with 
the  delight  of  being  able  to  '  unlock '  some  mis- 
sionaries and  set  them  at  work.  The  dear  old 
lady  actually  rebuked  me  and  said,  '  We'll  be  none 
the  poorer  for  parting  wdth  it  at  twenty-five 
hundred  dollars  than  we  should  have  been  at  five, 
and  we  should  feel  that  we  were  robbing  God  if 
we  said  to  him,  ^'We  would  give  you  our  only 
treasure  if  it  was  worth  but  five  dollars,  but 
twenty-five  hundred  is  too  much  for  you."  God 
will  provide  for  us,  we  are  sure  of  that,  and  we've 
no  need  to  begrudge  him  his  good  fortune,  sir. 
At  the  most  it  won't  go  very  far  toward  saving 
the  Chinese  from  their  superstition  and  the  Afri- 
cans from  their  degradation.  I  wish  it  was  a 
hundred  times  as  much.' " 

There  was  no  doubt  at  all  about  the  "bulging" 
as  the  minister  reported  the  strange  interview. 
He  gazed  earhestly,  prayerfully,  into  the  face  of 
this  rich  man,  to  w^hose  past  experience  such 
thoughts  as  those  of  the  Grangers  had  been  totally 
unknown.  Mr.  Schuyler  had  inflated  his  chest 
as  if  about  to  speak,  but  had  found  vent  for  his 
feelings  only  in  an  explosive  expulsion  of  the  pent- 
up  breath.  For  fully  a  minute  he  could  only  gaze 
helplessly  into  the  keen  3^et  tender  eyes  of  his 
pastor,  who  seemed  to  him  for  the  moment  to 


182  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

stand  in  the  place  of  his  acknowledged  but  un- 
followed  Master  himself.  Then  he  burst  forth  in 
a  voice  of  agitation  such  as  no  one  had  ever  heard 
from  him  before: 

"Well!  That  certainly  beats  anything  I  ever 
heard.  When  you  began  to  tell  me  of  their  de- 
cision, Mr.  Stanton,  I  was  on  the  point  of  crying 
out, '  The  poor  fools !  they  don't  know^  what  they're 
doing,  and  will  have  to  have  guardians  appointed.' 
But  the  words  did  not  get  out  before  the  convic- 
tion came  upon  me,  like  a  bolt  from  the  blue,  that 
it  wasn't  a  case  of  two  poor  fools,  but  of  one  rich 
fool,  and  that  I  am  the  man.  And  to  think  that 
I  should  have  to  be  taught  the  lesson  by  the  two 
paupers,  to  whom  I  have  occasionally,  in  most 
cold-blooded  fashion,  doled  out  a  pittance  dis- 
tinctly labeled  '  Charity ' !  Here  I  have  been  for 
years  puUing  down  my  barns  and  building  greater, 
and  saying  to  my  soul,  'Soul,  thou  hast  much 
goods  laid  up  for  many  years;  take  thine  ease, 
eat,  drink,  be  merry,  buy  new  automobiles  and 
gems  and  pictures  until  thou  hast  more  and  finer 
than  anyone  else.'  And  the  wonder  is  that  the 
Lord  did  not  say  to  me  long  ago,  'Thou  foolish 
one,  this  night  is  thy  soul  required  of  thee.' 
I've  never  been  rich  tow^ard  God.  I've  taken  a 
pride  in  keeping  up  the  church  as  a  most  respect- 
able club  with  a  sort  of  insurance  element  in  it. 
For  respectability's  sake  I  have  contributed  to 
public  charities  and  reform  movements;  but  I 
have  never  known  the  faintest  approach  to  the 


WITB   YOU  ALWAYS  183 

feeling  which  our  poor  old  friends  have  expressed 
and  evidently  felt.  I  suppose  you  will  tell  me 
that  I  never  can  feel  it,  because  in  no  imaginable 
circumstances  would  I  have  to  practice  their  self- 
denial.  Well,  I'll  tell  you  one  thing,  Mr.  Stan- 
ton, I'm  going  to  try  for  at  least  a  taste  of  it. 
Just  as  a  beginning,  I  should  like  to  make  the 
price  of  that  pin  five  thousand  dollars,  half  of  it 
to  start  a  bank  account  for  those  two  aged  saints. 
No;  that  won't  work,  for  they  would  insist  again 
on  giving  it  all  to  missions.  We  must  think  of 
some  other  plan  to  keep  them  in  comfort,  from  an 
anonymous  source,  while  they  give  their  twenty- 
five  hundred  to  missions.  And  now  for  that 
pledge,  wliich  I  know  you  have  in  your  pocket, 
though  I  did  not  give  you  a  chance  either  to  con- 
fess or  deny  it  this  morning,  let  me  have  one  and 
do  a  bit  of  figuring.  In  my  circumstances  there 
is  no  use  trying  to  compete  with  the  Grangers; 
but  what  is  the  proper  rule,  Mr.  Stanton?  You 
see  this  is  an  uncultivated  part  of  my  nature,  and 
I  don't  know  just  how  to  go  to  work.  You  must 
tell  me." 

"The  Apostle  Paul  laid  down  an  excellent  rule, 
which  is  sometimes  called  'the  scriptural  rule  of 
three  for  Christian  giving.'  It  should  be  in- 
dividual, systematic  and  proportional.  'Upon 
the  first  day  of  the  week  let  each  one  of  you  lay 
by  him  in  store,  as  he  may  prosper.' " 

"But  is  there  anyone  who  follows  that  rule, 
Mr.  Stanton?     If  they  do,  it  must  be  a  mighty 


184  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

small   'proportion'   that  they've  settled  on,   to 
judge  by  the  reports  of  mission  boards!" 

''Yes,  Mr.  Schuyler,  there  are  many  who  are 
now  giving  according  to  that  rule;  but,  as  you 
say,  even  among  them  many  are  contented  with 
'a  mighty  small  proportion.'  While  there  are 
almost  im_measurable  advantages  in  adopting  a 
certain  percentage  of  income  at  the  very  begin- 
ning of  life,  as  many  now  do,  yet  the  great  danger 
of  the  plan  is  that  men  will  make  that  percentage 
a  maximum  instead  of  a  minimum,  and  giving, 
say,  a  tenth  of  their  incomes  when  they  earn  a 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  will  continue  to  give  only 
a  tenth  when  they  receive  fifty  thousand.  Some 
one  has  well  said  that  God  does  not  measure  our 
devotion  by  what  we  give,  but  by  what  we  keep 
for  ourselves.  The  gift  of  a  hundred  dollars  from 
the  thousand-dollar  man  means  far  more  self- 
sacrifice  than  the  gift  of  five  thousand  from  the 
fifty-thousand-dollar  man.  Yet  one  of  the  sad- 
dest facts,  Mr.  Schuyler,  is  that  the  proportion  of 
thousand-dollar  men  giving  a  hundred  dollars  is 
far  larger  than  that  of  the  fifty-thousand-dollar 
men  giving  five  thousand  dollars.  Even  Chris- 
tian men  associate  sums  of  four  to  ten  figures  with 
business,  with  home  education,  with  public  works, 
with  scientific  research,  with  war,  with  amuse- 
ment, with  their  own  facilities  for  the  luxurious 
worship  of  God,  but  seldom  with  charitable  under- 
takings at  home,  and  almost  never  with  missions. 
But  the  day  is  coming  when  the  giving  of  sums 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  185 

of  one  to  twenty  millions  of  dollars  by  individuals 
to  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  world  will  seem 
as  reasonable  to  the  men  of  wealth  in  the  church 
as  similar  gifts  to  education  and  research  in 
America  have  come  to  seem,  and  when  the  church 
that  spends  from  two  to  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars  in  the  erection  and  adornment  of  its  own 
building  will  feel  that  it  must  match  the  sum  with 
an  equal  expenditure  for  world-wide  missions 
in  order  to  prove  that  it  loves  God  supremely 
and  loves  its  neighbor  as  itself.  The  spirit  of  the 
Crusades,  but  more  wisely  directed,  will  some  day 
lay  hold  on  the  men  and  women  and  children  of 
the  church.  It  will  seem  no  more  of  a  waste  to 
spend  millions  on  equipment  and  campaigning 
and  devote  the  richest  young  life  of  the  church,  for 
the  redemption  of  a  world  from  sin,  than  it  now 
seems  to  put  millions  of  the  people's  money  and 
thousands  of  young  lives  into  'Dreadnaughts' 
and  fighting  force  for  the  defense  of  our  own  bor- 
ders against  a  possible  foe.  Rather  will  it  be 
seen  that  the  former  is  vastly  the  more  acceptable 
to  God.  The  man  of  means  to-day  does  not  stop 
to  count  his  dollars  when  he  wants  something. 
The  day  will  come  when  Christian  men  of  means 
will  so  want  to  see  the  kingdom  come  in  power 
that  they  will  say  to  the  workers  on  the  field, 
'Get  the  thing  done,  and  send  the  bill  to  us.' 
But  pardon  me  for  running  on  in  this  way,  Mr. 
Schuyler;  the  experiences  of  these  last  few  weeks 
have  so  transfigured  the  whole  idea  of  the  church 


186  WITB    YOU   ALWA  YS 

and  of  the  Christian  hfe  for  me  that  I  have  become 
very  enthusiastic  and  very  optimistic.  I  know 
without  any  doubt  that  when  Christian  people 
come  to  reaHze  the  personal  presence  of  Jesus 
Christ  as  their  most  intimate  friend,  the  partner 
of  joys  and  sorrows,  of  plans  and  undertakings 
and  expenditures,  these  things  of  which  I  have 
spoken  will  most  certainly  come  to  pass." 

''Well,  Mr.  Stanton,  two  hours  ago  you  would 
not  have  made  the  slightest  impression  upon  me 
by  that  sort  of  talk,  for  I  should  have  laid  it  all 
to  'the  cloth';  but  now,  if  the  Lord  will  be  merci- 
ful to  me  a  sinner  against  abundant  light  and 
above  measure,  I  will  take  him  as  a  partner  for 
the  rest  of  my  life, — or,  rather,  I  will  ask  him  to 
let  me  be  a  partner  with  him  in  the  work  which  he 
wishes  to  do  in  the  world.  I  have  never  believed 
in  hoarding  money;  but  for  some  years  now,  even 
buying  automobiles  and  Rembrandts  and  precious 
stones  has  not  used  up  all  my  income,  and  my  pile 
has  been  growing.  For  whom?  The  fifth  of  it 
would  provide  very  comfortably  for  my  children. 
My  money  has  all  come  honestly,  Mr.  Stanton, 
though  I  must  admit,  in  the  light  of  what  has 
occurred  this  morning,  that  I  have  not  l^een 
making  a  strictly  honest  use  of  it.  It  will  require 
considerable  thinking  to  know  what  amends 
should  be  made.  The  giving  to  these  big  uni- 
versities, which  already  have  their  tens  of  mil- 
lions, strikes  me  as  being  a  bit  overdone,  for  the 
smaller  colleges,  no  matter  how  good  their  work, 


WITE    YOU   ALWAYS  187 

don't  have  half  a  chance,  especially  now  that  by 
one  great  fund  a  premium  has  been  put  on  their 
secularization.  Just  the  other  day  I  was  chuck- 
ling over  one  thing,  and  that  is  that  though  there 
are  no  other  people  in  the  world  who  insist  so 
vigorously  on  securing  a  thoroughly  educated, 
up-to-date  ministry  as  these  men  of  large  means, 
yet  scarcely  any  of  them  give  a  second  serious 
thought  to  the  equipment  and  endowment  of  our 
theological  seminaries  and  Bible-training  schools. 
Perhaps  that  is  a  good  field  for  me,  Mr.  Stan- 
ton?" 

''A  good  field  it  certainly  is,  Mr.  Schuyler,  if 
you  pick  out  the  seminaries  which  are  grounding 
men  well  in  the  faith,  instead  of  those  which  are 
merely,  like  the  men  of  Athens,  telling  or  hearing 
some  new  thing.  The  man  who  has  millions  to 
give  should  certainly  do  something  for  the  smaller 
Christian  colleges  and  the  seminaries  and  Bible- 
training  schools." 

''With  reference  to  your  views,  expressed  a 
moment  ago,  as  to  large  gifts  for  missions,  I 
hardly  know  what  to  think.  They  are  rather 
radical,  to  say  the  least.  Millions  and  missions 
sound  rather  well  together,  yet  somehow  they 
don't  seem  to  belong  together.  The  heathen 
have  never  interested  me  a  little  bit;  and  yet 
our  ancestors  must  have  been  once  heathen  of 
the  heathen.  It's  a  good  thing  that  some  one 
took  an  interest  in  heathen  in  those  days,  for  I 
am  sorely  afraid  that  no  ordinary  process  of  evo- 


188  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

lution  would  ever  have  given  us  the  civilization 
of  to-day.  It  does  seem  to  stand  to  reason  that  if 
we  have  a  good  thing,  like  those  lepers  in  the  camp 
of  the  absconded  Syrians,  we  should  not  simply 
enjoy  it  ourselves,  but  pass  it  on  to  others.  But 
if  so,  why  is  it  that  there  are  so  few  who  are  doing 
it?  Who  ever  heard  of  anyone  giving  a  milhon 
to  missions?  " 

"Twenty  years  ago  no  one  ever  had,  Mr. 
Schuyler;  but  since  then,  particularly  within  the 
last  ten  years,  quite  a  number  of  men  have  given 
a  milUon  or  more  to  missions.  The  largest  gift 
of  all  was  a  recent  legacy  of  two  and  a  quarter 
millions  each  to  several  boards  of  missions  of  our 
own  church — some  thirty  millions,  in  all,  to 
benevolence  and  education.  My  ideas  may  strike 
you  as  radical,  but  they  are  not  original;  and  the 
number  of  their  advocates  is  steadily  and  surely 
increasing  as  the  church  is  coming  to  realize  that 
missions  are  its  chief  end,  and  that  education  and 
other  philanthropies  attain  their  true  object  only 
as  they  contribute  to  the  attainment  of  that  su- 
preme end,  the  filling  of  the  world  with  the  saving 
knowledge  of  God  in  Christ.  Why,  think  of  it, 
Mr.  Schuyler;  while  Olympia  University,  one 
among  many,  is  asking  for  another  ten  million 
dollars  to  add  to  its  present  tens  of  millions,  in 
order  to  give  a  secular  and  largely  specialized 
training  to  some  hundreds  of  students,  compara- 
tively few  of  whom  have  really  at  heart  the  es- 
tablishment of  the  kingdom  of  God,  five  million 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  189 

dollars  would  endow  a  score  of  colleges  and  sem- 
inaries, in  as  many  lands  or  as  many  quarters  of 
huge  countries  like  China  or  India,  to  raise  up 
thousands  of  Christian  men  as  leaders  in  the 
making  of  the  new  civilizations  which  are  to  have 
far  larger  parts  in  the  forming  of  the  world's 
future  than  they  have  had  in  the  forming  of  its 
past.  There  is  no  country  in  the  Occident  to-day 
where  history  is  making  so  rapidly  as  it  is  in  China, 
Japan  or  Turkey.  The  great,  the  absolutely  only, 
adequate  defense  against  the  '  yellow  peril '  is  the 
speedy  evangelization  of  the  Orient,  and  that 
calls  for  thousands  of  men  and  millions  of  money. 
But  what  a  trifle  that  would  seem  to  the  Christian 
world  if  we  were  only  as  patriotic  for  the  kingdom 
of  God  as  we  are  for  our  native  lands! " 

"Well,  you  certainly  give  a  man  as  ignorant  as 
I  am  of  these  matters  a  lot  to  think  about.  I 
never  had  thought  enough  about  it  to  have  any 
idea  of  the  magnitude  of  the  task,  or  of  its  impor- 
tance either.  According  to  your  argument,  it  is 
not  only  a  question  of  benevolence,  but  also  of 
self-defense." 

*'It  most  assuredly  is.  If  wt  are  apprehensive 
to-day  of  what  Japan,  with  her  forty  or  fifty 
million  people  only  fifty  years  out  of  the  Middle 
Ages,  may  do  to  us  in  case  of  a  disagreement, 
what  may  we  not  fear,  twenty  years  from  now, 
from  China,  with  ten  times  the  population,  and 
every  whit  as  virile  and  intelligent?  The  gospel 
is  the  only  thing  which  can  turn  that  peril  into 


190  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

a  blessing.  Nevertheless,  the  great  question 
after  all  is  the  Orient's  need  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
our  Master's  command  to  us  to  meet  that  need. 
Never  before  was  there  such  an  opportunity  for 
the  church  to  use  to  utmost  advantage  the  men 
and  money  given  her  by  the  Master  for  this  very 
purpose." 

"  Do  you  think,  then,  that  there  is  no  limit  to 
what  should  be  given  for  these  purposes?  Will 
there  be  no  danger  of  over-capitalizing  the  enter- 
prise, or  of  pauperizing  the  natives?  " 

John  Stanton  laughed  quietly  as  he  replied: 
*'You  say  you  know  but  Httle  about  these  mat- 
ters, Mr.  Schuyler;  yet  you  know  enough  to  have 
yourself  said  just  now  that  mighty  little  was  being 
given;  so  little,  indeed,  I  might  add,  that  the 
limit  to  wise  giving  about  which  you  inquire  may 
be  regarded  for  the  present  as  a  purely  academic 
question.  When  the  church  has  attained  to  the 
gi\dng,  on  an  average,  of  ten  times  what  she  is 
giving  now,  it  may  be  time  to  talk  of  limits;  but 
at  present  the  work  already  in  operation  needs 
two  or  three  times  what  it  receives,  and  the  yet 
untouched  work  is  many  times  that  already  un- 
dertaken. Steady  progress  is  making  in  all 
mission  fields  in  the  direction  of  native  self- 
support;  but  it  has  been  forwarded  as  a  matter  of 
wise  policy,  and  not  merely  under  the  constraint 
of  necessity.  The  missions  of  our  own  church 
have  made  a  conservative  estimate  of  the  new 
property    required    for    present    work,    and    it 


WITU    YOU    ALWAYS  191 

amounts  to  more  than  three  million  and  a  half. 
Add  to  that  what  will  be  needed  for  advance  work 
in  the  next  few  years  and  you  have  about  fifteen 
million  dollars — a  large  sum  from  the  point  of 
view  of  amounts  hitherto  given,  but  a  mere  trifle 
when  compared  with  the  church's  wealth,  or  its 
expenditures  in  other  directions.  It  is  just  about 
the  sum  which  one  church  in  New  York  proposes 
to  put  into  its  single  house  of  worship,  a  sum  well 
within  the  power  of  a  dozen  or  more  individual 
Christians  to  give;  yet  it  would  equip  the  world- 
wide missions  of  a  great  church  like  ours  with  all 
the  schools,  colleges,  seminaries,  hospitals,  resi- 
dences and  chapels  which  it  is  Hkely  to  need  in 
fulfilling  its  responsibility  toward  the  non-Chris- 
tian world.  Some  Christian  man  is  going  to  get 
the  vision  some  day  and  demonstrate  his  belief 
that  this  is  the  greatest  work  in  the  world:  it's 
surely  coming.  Ten  years  ago  those  great  be- 
quests of  which  I  spoke  would  have  received  little 
commendation  and  much  criticism  from  the  press. 
But  missions  have  so  largely  made  good,  and  have 
been  so  fully  investigated  by  so  many  unpreju- 
diced men,  that  the  sneering  and  indifference  of 
years  gone  by  are  giving  way  to  a  general  respect 
and  real  interest.  While  there  would,  no  doubt, 
be  some  who  would  call  the  giver  of  twenty  mil- 
lions to  missions  a  fool,  a  large  majority  of  the 
men  whose  opinion  is  best  worth  considering 
would  style  him  a  benefactor  of  the  race." 

"Well,  when  I  got  up  this  morning  I  should 


192  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

certainly  have  been  among  those  to  call  him  a 
fool,  Mr.  Stanton;  and  I  feel  even  now  as  if  you, 
or  the  Grangers,  or  some  one,  must  have  be- 
witched me  to  convince  me  of  the  soundness  of 
your  logic." 

''That  is  quite  scriptural,  Mr.  Schuyler,  for 
Paul  said  long  ago,  '  If  any  man  thinketh  that  he 
is  wise  among  you  in  this  world,  let  him  become  a 
fool,  that  he  may  become  wise.'  You  will  be  in- 
terested to  know  that  our  Foreign  Mission  Board 
is  now  not  only  planning  what  it  might  do  with 
gifts  of  millions,  but  definitely  planning  what  it 
will  do  in  that  confidently  expected  early  future 
when  the  day  of  small  things  in  giving  to  missions 
will  give  place  to  the  day  of  large  things,  when 
the  work  will  be  done  on  a  scale  adequate  to  its 
vastness  and  importance.  The  Home  Board  too 
has  set  forth  a  programme  which  calls  for  and 
contemplates  a  similar  awakening  to  liberality." 

''Well,  as  I  said  a  moment  ago,  you  have  given 
me  much  to  think  about;  and  I  am  surprised  to 
find  myself  grateful  to  you,  to  the  Grangers  and 
to  God,  for  the  new  line  of  thought  and  interest. 
Let  me  draw  you  a  check  for  the  Grangers  now, 
and  if  you  will  leave  the  pledge  blanks  and  en- 
velopes with  me,  I  will  send  in  my  pledge  to- 
morrow." 

Thankful  beyond  words  for  the  strange  provi- 
dential leading  which  had  brought  about  such 
results  in  a  single  morning,  John  Stanton  carried 
the  check  to  the  jubilant  old  couple,  who  held  it 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  193 

reverently  for  a  moment  and  then  handed  it 
back  to  the  pastor  for  the  Lord's  treasury.  When 
Mrs.  Stanton  was  told  the  good  news  her  face 
grew  radiant  over  the  story,  and  together  they 
poured  out  full  hearts  in  thanksgiving  and  in 
prayer  for  the  man  who  had  so  suddenly  made 
up  his  mind  to  be  rich  toward  God,  as  well  as  for 
the  happy  couple  who  had  so  lavishly  done  what 
they  could.  When  Mr.  Schuyler's  pledges  came 
in  the  next  day,  they  found  that  he  had  doubled 
his  previous  pledge  for  local  support,  and  prom- 
ised one  hundred  dollars  a  week  for  benevolence. 
Three  or  four  weeks  afterward  the  church  and 
community  were  electrified  by  the  report  that, 
after  much  reading  of  missionary  literature  and 
correspondence  with  the  boards,  Vincent  Schuy- 
ler had  become  the  first  Christian  to  do  for  mis- 
sions, during  his  own  lifetime,  as  liberal  things 
as  several  were  doing  for  education  and  research, 
by  giving  outright  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Mis- 
sions ten  million  dollars,  and  dividing  between  the 
boards  working  at  home  another  ten  milHon  dol- 
lars. And  no  longer  did  time  hang  heavy  on  the 
hands  of  Mr.  Schuyler. 


13 


CHAPTER  IX 

A    PARISH    ABROAD 

A  MONG  the  various  experiences  of  the  several 
J'\  pairs  of  canvassers  none  was  more  striking 
than  that  of  Elder  Ogden  and  Trustee  Wat- 
erson  in  their  interview  with  Banker  Harden. 
They  had  completed  their  entire  round  of  visits 
most  successfully  before  they  ventured  to  "beard 
the  lion  in  his  den."  But  all  the  week  they  had 
made  him  and  their  visit  to  him  a  matter  of  earn- 
est prayer;  so  that  it  was  in  no  hopeless  mood 
that  they  entered  his  office  some  time  after  bank- 
ing hours  on  Friday  afternoon,  Mr.  Ogden,  as  a 
particularly  intimate  friend,  having  agreed  to  do 
most  of  the  talking.  He  had  made  up  his  mind 
just  what  course  to  pursue;  but  on  taking  up  an 
early  afternoon  paper  had  run  upon  an  item  which 
had  radically  changed  his  whole  purpose.  With 
this  paper  in  his  pocket,  he  greeted  the  banker 
with  far  more  assurance  than  that  with  which  he 
had  started  on  his  rather  disagreeable  errand. 

"Well,  Harden,  how's  the  money  market?" 
he  sang  out  in  his  cheery,  half-quizzical  fashion, 
as  he  shook  hands  with  the  banker,  who  looked 
anything  but  responsive  to  the  cheer  of  the  greet- 
ing, and  replied  rather  gruffly: 

"If  you  two  men  have  come  to  perform  your 
duty  by  me  in  the  matter  of  begging  pledges  for 
194 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  195 

missions,  you've  hit  on  anything  but  the  psycho- 
logical moment  to  do  it.  You  wouldn't  have 
got  a  cent  from  me  at  any  time,  as  I  have  said 
over  and  over  again;  but  you  might  have  found 
me  ready  to  say  a  more  amiable  '  No '  if  you  had 
come  even  half  an  hour  ago.  Look  at  that,  will 
you! "  And  he  thrust  into  Ogden's  hands  a  copy 
of  the  paper  which  the  latter  had  just  been  read- 
ing. ''You  can't  trust  anyone  these  days  in 
the  handling  of  trust  funds.  Our  city  hospital 
stands  to  lose  at  least  half  a  million  through  the 
rascality  of  that  young  Baynes,  who  has  appa- 
rently been  misappropriating  trust  funds  for  the 
last  two  years,  when  everyone  thought  there  was 
no  more  rehable  young  man  in  the  city.  Rapidly 
increasing  personal  luxury,  speculation  in  stocks 
and  real  estate,  led  to  suspicion  and  investigation, 
with  the  result  that  you  see.  It  is  perfectly 
amazing  that  men  cannot  see  that  what  has  been 
entrusted  to  them  to  use  for  another  is  not  theirs 
to  use  for  themselves,  except  just  enough  to  pay 
expenses.  It  would  seem  as  if  that  principle  w^as 
sufficiently  fundamental  to  prevent  such  ship- 
wrecks as  this.  There  was  a  little  more  than  a 
million  dollars  put  in  Baynes's  hands  to  adminis- 
ter for  the  Rinker  Hospital,  and  he  has,  little  by 
little,  helped  himself  to  about  half  of  it.  The 
institution  will  be  just  about  paralyzed,  the  man 
himself  is  ruined  for  life,  his  family  blighted  and 
impoverished;  and  all  because  he  once  began 
keeping  what  did  not  belong  to  him." 


196  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

"It's  awful,  awful!"  heartily  responded  Mr. 
Ogden.  "I'm  sorry  as  can  be  for  the  hospital 
and  the  family.  It  reminds  me  of  another  case, 
some  time  ago,  when  an  estate  of  many  millions 
was  left  to  the  care  of  a  large  number  of  executors, 
every  one  of  whom  gave  bond  to  administer  the 
trust  solely  for  the  interest  of  the  only  son.  The 
various  interests  of  the  estate  were  divided  up 
among  these  men,  each  to  look  after  his  own  share 
and  make  final  report  at  a  set  time.  When  it 
came  time  for  the  settlement  with  the  son,  it  was 
discovered  that  all  but  one  of  the  executors  had 
treated  the  share  of  the  estate  committed  to  him 
as  his  own,  spent  it  as  he  pleased,  and  willed 
most  of  the  balance  to  his  own  children,  so  that 
not  a  hundredth  part  of  the  estate  ever  came  into 
the  hands  of  the  son." 

"What!  Do  you  mean  to  say  that  that  sort 
of  thing  was  ever  actually  done  anywhere  in  this 
coimtry  of  ours,  Ogden?"  gasped  Mr.  Harden. 
"  Surely  such  men  could  not  escape  the  clutches 
of  the  law  all  that  time,  and  actually  have  the 
hardihood  to  try  to  pass  on  another  man's  estate 
to  their  own  children!" 

"Yes;  and  the  most  amazing  thing  about  it 
was  that  the  law  allowed  them  to  do  so,  and  public 
opinion  commended  them  as  superior  financiers; 
and  they  are  at  large  as  respected  citizens  in  the 
community  to-day." 

"Say,  Ogden,  what  sort  of  hoax  are  you  giving 
me?    You  surely  don't  expect  me  to  swallow  all 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  197 

that?  There  isn't  a  state  in  this  country  where 
it  could  happen." 

''Nevertheless  it  has  happened,  and  happened 
in  this  state  and  city,  and  you  are  one  of  the 
executors.  Harden." 

"Have  you  gone  crazy,  Ogden,  or  are  you 
just  trying  to  jolly  me  in  this  rather  unusual 
fashion?" 

"No,  Harden,  I  speak  forth  the  words  of  truth 
and  soberness.  And  I  dare  to  do  it  because  I 
was  in  the  same  boat  with  you  until  a  short  time 
ago.  God  made  us  executors  of  his  estate  for  his 
Son  Jesus  Christ;  and  we  have  called  his  money 
our  money,  have  appropriated  it  to  our  own  self- 
ish purposes,  and  what  we  couldn't  use  ourselves 
we  have  willed  to  our  children;  and  we  have  not 
given  him,  whose  stewards  we  are,  even  one  per 
cent  of  what  belongs  to  him.  Talk  about  young 
Baynes  misappropriating  trust  funds  and  score 
him  as  he  ought  to  be  scored;  but  the  fact  of  the 
matter  is  that  we  have  been  just  as  guilty  as  he 
since  we  first  began  to  plan  our  lives  for  our- 
selves. We  have  consistently  and  persistently 
robbed  God,  and  yet  apparently  maintained  our 
self-respect  and  retained  the  respect  of  others, — 
naturally  enough,  because  in  condemning  us  they 
would  but  have  condemned  themselves.  I  for 
one  am  done  with  this  sort  of  thing,  and,  aside 
from  a  reasonable  expense  account,  shall  appro- 
priate to  myself  no  more  of  the  trust  fund  com- 
mitted to  me  to  administer  for  Jesus  Christ.     And 


198  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

I  tell  you,  Harden,  it  makes  all  the  difference  in 
the  world  to  feel  that  one's  hands  are  clean.  I 
have  cared  too  much  for  you  as  an  old  friend 
quietly  to  endure  seeing  you  lose  all  this  joy  and 
peace.  You  need  not  try  to  con\ince  me  that 
you  have  had  peace  of  conscience  and  joy  in  the 
Holy  Spirit  during  these  past  few  weeks." 

''Well,  Ogden,  I  shall  have  to  confess  that  you 
have  caught  me  just  about  as  King  David  was 
caught  by  the  prophet.  I  never  thought  that  I 
was  setting  a  trap  for  myself  by  mentioning  that 
item  in  to-day's  paper;  but  the  fact  is  that  I've 
been  'kicking  against  the  goad'  for  some  time. 
I  wasn't  wiUing  to  acknowledge  it;  and  indeed  I 
never  realized  that  my  case  was  so  bad  as  you 
have  shown  it  to  be  this  afternoon;  but  I've  been 
irritable  enough,  goodness  knows, — and  you  could 
probably  testify.  The  fact  was  that  the  sword 
entered  pretty  deeply  the  day  that  Dr.  Sears  made 
his  parting  thrust  at  me  in  this  office,  several 
weeks  ago.  The  change  in  my  wife  and  daughter 
has  only  served  to  make  it  rankle;  and  when  you 
came  in  this  afternoon  with  a  sort  of  bound-to- win 
expression  on  that  face  of  yours,  I  felt  desperate. 
But  my  weapon  of  defense  has  been  turned  most 
skillfully  against  me,  and  I  shall  have  to  plead 
guilty  to  the  indictment  of  having  systematically 
robbed  God  by  misappropriating  trust  funds. 
It  has  always  been  my  money,  my  time,  my 
strength;  if  I  chose  to  give  any  of  it  to  the  church, 
it  was  my  liberality;  if  I  did  anything  for  the  poor, 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  199 

or  for  home  missions,  it  was  my  kindness  and 
patriotism;  and  I  did  nothing  for  those  beyond 
the  seas  for  whom  Christ  died  because  they  did  not 
directly  appeal  to  me,  and  money  spent  on  them 
seemed  wasted.  But  the  other  day,  before  I 
realized  what  I  was  reading,  I  got  into  the  midst 
of  an  article  on  the  revolutionary  changes  which 
have  taken  place  during  the  last  few  years  in 
China,  either  directly  through  missionary  effort 
or  in  rivalry  of  it,  and  it  was  so  interesting  I 
couldn't  lay  it  down.  It  showed  me  that  I  was 
altogether  mistaken  about  the  waste  of  money 
when  such  w^onders  have  been  accomplished  with 
the  pittance  the  church  has  given  for  the  purpose. 
Yet  I  tried  still  to  make  myself  believe  that  it  was 
none  of  my  business.  But  you  have  been  too 
much  for  me  to-day,  Ned,  and  have  caught  me 
with  guile.  As  long  as  the  wisdom  of  the  ser- 
pent has  had  in  it  the  harmlessness  of  the  dove, 
I'll  forgive  you.  But  seriously,  what's  the  best 
way  to  make  good  those  defalcations  of  mine? 
Wouldn't  it  be  a  good  plan  to  get  you  to  help 
me  change  my  will,  so  that  I  can  leave  something 
to  the  cause  to  atone  for  my  delinquencies? 
Wouldn't  it  do  the  work  more  good  to  have  a 
large  lump  sum  with  which  to  undertake  some 
large  enterprise,  rather  than  have  it  in  smaller 
sums  that  would  be  insufficient  for  anything  im- 
portant?" 

When  the  banker  got  to  this  point,  the  lawyer 
broke  into  a  hearty  laugh. 


200  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

"Good,"  he  cried;  ''this  appeals  to  the  lawyer 
in  me, — ^this  last  proposition, — and  tickles  my 
funny-bone  as  well,  though  you're  by  no  means 
the  first  to  make  the  suggestion.  I  know  you'll 
excuse  me  for  thinking  it  funny,  when  you  just 
turn  the  thing  around  for  yourself.  Carry  out 
our  figure:  young  Baynes  is  caught  red-handed, 
confesses  the  whole  thing,  has  considerable  of  the 
money  in  stocks  and  bonds  to  make  restitution, 
but  asks  the  judge  if  he  does  not  think  it  will  be 
better  for  the  hospital  to  have  him  enjoy  the  pro- 
ceeds for  the  rest  of  his  life  and  will  the  money  to 
the  institution  at  his  death !  There  may  be  more 
of  it  by  that  time,  and  they  can  use  it  for  a  new 
building,  instead  of  squandering  it  now  on  current 
expenses !  And  it  will  have  the  further  advantage 
of  giving  us  lawyers  a  chance  to  pull  the  will  to 
pieces  and  secure  some  of  that  fat  sum  for  the 
sorrowing  widow!  By  all  means.  Harden,  let  it 
be  a  post-mortem  restitution!" 

Rattled  off  in  jolly  raillery  of  his  old  friend,  who 
knew  well  liis  genuine  good- will,  as  well  as  his 
keen  wit,  this  speech  set  the  banker  off  into  the 
heartiest  laugh  in  which  he  had  indulged  in  many 
a  day;  and  he  repHed: 

"I  declare,  Ogden,  you  are  certainly  an  adept 
at  turning  a  man  inside  out,  showing  him  his  own 
soul,  and  clearing  every  mist  from  before  his 
eyes.  Tell  the  truth,  I  haven't  done  much  laugh- 
ing for  some  time,  and  it  feels  good.  It's  all 
right :  I  shall  not  give  you  the  job  of  making  a  new 


W ITH    YOU    ALWAYS  201 

will  for  me.  But,  you  know,  there  are  lots  of  men 
that  reason  that  way,  and  never  get  a  taste  of  self- 
sacrifice  themselves,  but  leave  it  all  to  their  heirs. 
I  rather  think  it  would  be  better  for  those  heirs 
presumptive  to  see  the  estate  kept  so  low  by  the 
honest  payment  of  debts  to  God  that  they  couldn't 
reasonably  do  so  much  'presuming.'  Might 
make  some  of  them  indulge  a  little  more  in  good 
honest  toil,  eh?  And  you  are  undoubtedly  right, 
too,  in  thinking  that  our  first  great  duty  is  toward 
our  own  generation,  for  we  do  not  know  for  sure 
that  there  will  ever  be  another  one;  and  for  lack  of 
my  help  in  connection  with  this  one,  the  next  may 
be  in  such  a  condition  that  ten  times  as  much 
help  will  not  save  it.  But,  do  you  know,  there 
is  one  thing  I  don't  believe  I'm  quite  equal  to  yet. 
I'm  more  than  half  afraid  that  my  daughter  Lena 
is  feehng  her  duty  toward  the  present  generation 
in  the  form  of  a  call  to  the  foreign  field  herself. 
She  hasn't  said  a  word,  but  I've  seen  the  look  in 
her  eyes.  Giving  the  money  and  giving  one's  own 
daughter  are  two  very  different  things,  Ogden,  and 
I'm  not  ready  to  let  her  go." 

" '  God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his  only 
begotten  Son';  and  I  believe  you  will  be  given 
the  grace  to  give  your  daughter,  if  she  really  feels 
called  of  God  to  go,  and  you  will  be  proud  that 
you  have  a  daughter  so  rarely  fitted  for  that  great 
work.  But  it  will  be  years  yet  before  she  would 
go." 

''Of  course  I  wouldn't  want  to  fight  against 


202  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

God;  there's  no  satisfaction  in  that,  as  I  know 
too  well  already;  but  I  hope  she'll  find  her  work 
here  at  home.  I  won't  think  of  it  any  more  than 
I  have  to.  But  what  about  those  pledges?  Let 
me  see  one.  That  work  of  restitution  for  the 
past  I  shall  certainly  do,  probably  by  erecting 
some  new  buildings,  or  endowing  some  educa- 
tional institution.  That  would  be  Hke  leaving 
the  money  in  my  will,  except  that  the  money  will 
be  working  for  the  Lord  instead  of  for  me,  and 
you  lawyers  won't  get  your  chance.  I  shall  con- 
sult the  boards  as  to  the  best  thing  to  do.  Let 
me  see:  how  much  am  I  giving  to  the  support  of 
the  local  church?  Oh,  I  see;  you  have  my  one- 
sided pledge  here.  Two  dollars  a  week  for  the 
support  of  minister,  choir,  sexton,  upkeep  of 
church,  maintenance  of  Sunday  school,  etc.,  etc., 
a  hundred  dollars  a  year.  Humph!  my  automo- 
bile costs  me  a  thousand;  my  house  four  thousand; 
my  servants  another  thousand,  not  counting 
food.  That  won't  do;  let  me  change  it  to  ten 
dollars.  That  will  look  a  little  better.  Now  for 
the  •  benevolences.  Home  missions  in  all  their 
variety,  local,  state,  national;  foreign  missions 
to  the  church's  million  heathen.  Well,  I  cer- 
tainly wouldn't  have  the  face  to  spend  less  on 
the  world's  evangelization  than  I  do  on  my  auto- 
mobile. We'll  put  down  twenty  dollars  a  week 
for  the  present.  That  would  come  pretty  close 
to  supporting  a  missionary  in  each  field,  wouldn't 
it?     I'll  just  make  it  an  even  twenty-five,  and 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  203 


then  we  can  be  sure  to  have  our  own  missionaries. 
I  Hke  to  know  just  what  my  money  is  doing. 
What  do  you  think,  you  two,  with  this  new  con- 
dition of  things  in  the  church,  couldn't  we  have 
a  definite  parish  assigned  to  us  in  the  home  mis- 
sion field,  and  another  abroad,  in  which  we  could 
take  a  very  special  interest?  Some  of  us  might 
visit  them  after  they  were  started.  I  am  sure  it 
would  make  us  all  feel  as  if  we  had  a  much  more 
real  part  in  the  work.  You  just  carry  that  sug- 
gestion to  your  Missionary  Committee,  with  the 
comphments  of  Edward  Harden,  and  see  if  they 
don't  stare!  I  must  excuse  myself  now  for  a 
directors'  meering;  but  I  thank  you  with  all  my 
heart  for  'bearding  the  lion  in  his  den.'  Good- 
by." 

"Well,  we  certainly  kept  the  best  for  the  last 
this  time!"  exclaimed  Mr.  Waterson  when  they 
were  once  more  upon  the  street.  ''The  appear- 
ance of  that  story  of  young  Baynes  in  the  after- 
noon paper  seems  almost  Hke  a  special  provi- 
dence." 

"It  certainly  did  make  our  way  easier,"  replied 
the  jubilant  lawyer;  "but  the  Spirit  of  God  had 
been  working  mightily  with  Harden  for  a  long 
time;  and  we  were  directed  to  'the  psychological 
moment.'  Suppose  we  keep  the  secret  until  our 
committee  gets  together,  and  spring  a  good  big 
surprise  on  them." 

"All  right;  I  am  agreed.  Our  work  is  done, 
and  it  has  not  been  half  so  unpleasant  as  I  ex- 


204  WITE    YOU   ALWAYS 

pected  to  find  it.  Isn't  it  interesting, — almost 
startling, — to  see  how  the  birth  of  zeal  for  mis- 
sions almost  invariably  increases  interest  in  the 
support  of  the  local  church?  " 

''Yet  it  is  one  of  the  axioms  of  Christian  mathe- 
matics that  scattering  increases  and  withhold- 
ing impoverishes.  But  the  carnal  mind  will  not 
accept  even  ocular  demonstration  of  that  fact." 

The  two  men  separated,  after  their  week  of 
association  in  this  work,  with  a  new  sense  of  the 
power  of  God  and  the  sacredness  of  the  life  of  a 
Christian. 

Elder  Wentworth  and  Ralph  Jackson  had  been 
paired  for  the  work,  and  they  had  met  with  the 
varied  experience  that  might  have  been  expected. 
To  them  had  been  assigned,  on  account  of  the 
elder's  popularity,  and  Mr.  Jackson's  former  atti- 
tude toward  missions,  a  considerable  proportion 
of  the  members  of  the  congregation  not  members 
of  the  church,  who  were  to  be  visited;  and  they 
were  much  encouraged  with  the  result.  Indeed, 
two  of  those  whom  they  visited  were  so  impressed, 
first,  with  the  world's  need  of  evangeUzation,  and 
then  with  the  incongruity  of  contributing  to  that 
work  while  themselves  possessed  of  that  Gospel 
'but  having  denied  the  power  thereof,'  that  they 
announced  their  intention  of  uniting  with  the 
church  at  the  earliest  opportunity.  In  two 
other  cases  the  visitors  were  surprised  to  discover 
that  families  which  they  supposed  entirely  un- 
connected were  in  actual  possession  of  letters  from 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  205 

another  church  which  had  never  been  presented. 
Probably  their  most  interesting  experience  was 
their  interview  with  Russell  Seward,  w^hom 
Elder  Wentworth  had  chosen  as  his  special  ob- 
ject of  prayer  and  effort.  He  was  among  the  first 
whom  they  visited,  choosing  an  evening  when  he 
would  be  at  home,  rather  than  seeking  him  at 
Doran  and  Hutchins',  where  his  time  w^as  not  his 
own.  He  had  not  yet  reached  home  for  his  supper 
when  they  arrived  at  eight  o'clock,  and  they 
feared  that  the  time  might  not  prove  auspicious; 
but  Mrs.  Seward  urged  them  to  remain,  saying: 

"I  would  give  anything  to  be  able  to  draw 
Russell  out  of  himself,  for  I  am  very  anxious  about 
him.  I  am  quite  sure  he  has  no  bad  habits  and 
is  not  wasting  his  money;  yet  I  will  say  in  confi- 
dence to  two  old  friends  like  yourselves  that  he 
finds  it  a  great  deal  harder  to  spend  money  than 
he  ought  with  his  income.  I  never  used  to  think 
him  close;  but  there  is  certainly  something  wrong 
with  him,  and  I  cannot  find  out  what  it  is.  He 
doesn't  seem  to  care  to  go  to  church  as  he  used  to, 
and  appears  depressed  most  of  the  time.  His 
work  keeps  him  very  closely;  but  I  sometimes 
wonder  if  he  is  not  doing  extra  work.  I  cannot 
get  his  confidence;  so  if  you  can,  you  will  be  doing 
me  a  very  great  favor." 

"I,  too,  have  been  troubled  about  him,  Mrs. 
Seward,"  said  Elder  Wentworth.  "I  know  he 
is  not  happy,  and  when  that  is  so  w^ith  a  Chris- 
tian, it  is  sure  proof  that  something  is  wTong.     I'm 


206  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


pretty  certain  that  it  is  congestion  of  the  heart; 
and  there's  a  remedy  for  that;  so  I  believe  we  can 
help  him  out,  and  you'll  be  very  welcome  to  any 
help  it  brings  to  you." 

Steps  were  heard  at  the  door,  and  in  walked 
Russell  Seward,  looking  both  weary  and  gloomy. 
His  face  brightened  a  httle  at  seeing  the  two  old 
friends,  and  he  tried  to  bid  them  a  cheery  w^el- 
come;  but  it  was  not  much  of  a  success.  Mrs. 
Seward  hastened  to  set  on  the  supper,  ha\dng 
waited  for  her  own  that  she  might  keep  her  hus- 
band company.  As  no  persuasions  could  induce 
the  visitors  to  partake  of  a  second  supper,  they 
did  their  best  to  enliven  the  meal  with  pleasan- 
tries and  items  of  new^s.  When  the  table  had 
been  cleared  and  Mrs.  Seward  had  withdrawn 
to  the  kitchen  to  wash  the  dishes,  Mr.  Seward 
broke  out : 

"I  suppose  you  have  come  to  see  m.e  about  the 
new  plans  in  the  church.  Well,  anything  will  be 
better  than  going  on  as  I  am  going  now,  and  your 
coming  here  this  evening  moves  me  to  make  a 
clean  breast  of  my  trouble,  even  if  it  does  drive 
you  away.  I  cannot  take  an  interest  in  the 
church  and  do  for  it  here,  and  help  to  send  the 
gospel  abroad,  because  I'm  not  a  Christian; 
that's  all.  You  both  know  that,  while  my  income 
is  not  large,  yet  I  am  not  spending  it  all.  No; 
the  fact  is  that  I  have  gotten  so  into  the  grip  of 
the  laying-up  habit  that  I  grudge  every  cent  that 
I  spend  on  the  house  or  our  li\dng.     I  have  about 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  207 


ten  thousand  dollars  laid  by  now  where  it  brings 
me  five  per  cent  interest;  and  I  love  that  capital 
and  interest  more  than  I  love  the  lost;  which 
cannot  mean  anything  else  than  that  I  love  it 
more  than  I  do  Jesus  Christ.  It  seems  to  me 
clear  proof  that  I'm  not  a  Christian,  and  I  think 
the  best  thing  I  can  do  is  just  to  have  my  name 
dropped  from  the  church  roll,  and  then,  perhaps, 
my  conscience  won't  charge  me  so  often  with 
hypocrisy,  and  my  burden  will  be  a  bit  lighter." 

Elder  Wentworth  rose  from  his  seat,  went  over 
to  where  Russell  Seward  sat  with  bowed  head, 
put  his  arm  affectionately  over  his  shoulder  and 
said: 

"I  feel  like  saying  to  you,  as  Ananias  did  to 
Saul,  Brother  Russell,  receive  thy  sight.  You 
have  certainly  been  stricken  down  by  a  revelation 
of  the  impossibility  of  serving  two  masters;  like 
Saul,  you  have  been  the  strong  man  misusing  his 
strength  under  the  influence  of  an  earthly  vision; 
and  it  is  the  day  of  your  opportunity  to  become 
the  strong  man  glorifying  his  strength  under  the 
influence  of  a  heavenly  vision.  We  won't  argue 
the  question  as  to  whether  you  have  been  a 
Christian  heretofore  or  not;  your  present  misery 
is  certainly  the  best  of  proof  that  the  Holy  Spirit 
is  still  laboring  with  you  to  be  one  from  this  time 
forth.  You  cannot  drive  away  that  frightful  love 
of  money;  and  it  is  quite  as  certain  that  you  can 
never  be  happy  with  it ;  but  there  is  nothing  more 
certain  than  that  Jesus  Christ  can  conquer  it  and 


208  WITH    VOU    ALWAYS 

take  its  place  in  your  heart,  so  that  henceforth 
money  will  always  be  means  and  not  end.  Suppose 
we  all  get  on  our  knees  and  see  if  the  light  doesn't 
come:  Dear  Heavenly  Father,  our  brother 
here  has  lost  his  vision  of  the  loveliness  of  Jesus, 
and  has  been  charmed  with  the  glitter  of  gold  and 
silver.  Open  his  eyes.  Lord,  that  he  may  see; 
clear  away  all  the  deluding  mists,  that  he  may 
see  Jesus  only;  and  then  may  all  life's  values 
assume  their  right  proportions  in  his  mind  and 
heart." 

For  several  moments  none  of  the  three  spoke, 
as  all  continued  kneeling.  Then  in  broken  utter- 
ance Russell  Seward  prayed  for  himself: 

"O  Heavenly  Father,  I  am  not  worthy  to  be 
called  thy  son.  I  have  taken  thy  bounty  and 
made  an  idol  out  of  it,  which  I  have  worshiped  in 
thy  stead.  I  have  done  despite  to  thy  spirit  of 
grace,  and  hghtly  esteemed  the  love  of  thy  Son 
Jesus  Christ.  Thou  knowest  how  wretched  it  has 
made  me,  and  my  wife,  and  my  friends.  But 
thou  art  merciful,  and  I  plead  for  thy  forgiveness, 
and  for  more  and  more  of  the  vision  of  Christ's 
loveliness  until  I  so  truly  love  him  ^\^th  all  my 
heai  t  that  nothing  can  ever  take  his  place.  Teach 
me  what  to  do  and  what  to  undo,  and  give  me  thy 
peace  that  it  may  become  my  power  for  a  life  of 
humble.  Christian  service.  Only  in  Jesus'  name 
dare  I  ask  it.     Amen." 

As  they  rose  from  their  knees,  Russell  Seward 
lifted  a  radiant  face,  from  which  the  clouds  had 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  209 

all  flown,  grasped  his  friends'  hands  and  thanked 
them  for  coming. 

''Now we're  ready  for  business,"  said  he,  going 
to  a  little  safe  in  a  corner  of  the  room,  and  taking 
out  some  papers.  "The  first  thing  to  do  is  to 
knock  off  the  head  of  my  favorite  deity.  Mammon, 
and  then  we'll  make  use  of  his  carcass  for  other 
purposes  than  worship.  Now,  here  are  two  thou- 
sand dollars  in  five  per  cent  bonds,  which  shall  be 
made  over  to  our  pastor  for  proper  division  among 
the  benevolent  agencies  of  the  church.  Here  are 
two  thousand  dollars  more,  which  shall  be  used 
in  putting  this  house  in  livable  shape,  and  getting 
Mrs.  Seward  some  decent  clothes  and  other 
things  that  she  needs.  The  rest  we'll  lay  up 
for  a  rainy  day;  but  my  love  for  it  is  gone,  and 
it  will  get  no  more  worship.  That,  with  the 
insurance  I  carry,  will  keep  my  wife  from  want 
if  I  should  be  taken  first.  Now,  out  with  your 
pledges,  brethren,  and  we'll  see  what  we  can  do. 
'For  Current  Expenses,'  'For  Ourselves';  yes, 
that's  what  it  is,  paying,  not  giving:  we  ought 
to  be  able  to  pay  one  dollar  a  week,  I  think.  '  For 
Benevolences,'  'For  Others,'  and  in  the  last 
analysis,  for  Christ;  we  certainly  can't  give  less 
than  we  do  for  ourselves.  But  that  includes 
local  charity,  mission  work  all  over  the  United 
States,  and  the  evangelization  of  the  world. 
Fifty  odd  dollars  for  local  church,  fifty  more  for 
home  missions,  and  fifty  for  foreign — one  hun- 
dred and  fifty  in  all:  why,  even  at  that  it  isn't  a 
14 


210  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

tenth  of  my  income!  Well,  there'll  be  some 
special  calls.  I'll  put  down  two  dollars  a  week 
for  benevolences,  and  if  I  don't  give  at  least  a 
tenth  during  the  year,  I'll  make  a  special  offering. 
How  does  that  strike  you?  " 

The  eyes  of  Elder  Wentworth,  and  even  those 
of  the  less  emotional  Ralph  Jackson,  were  moist 
as  they  congratulated  Russell  Seward  on  his  new- 
found happiness.  Mr.  Jackson  exclaimed  that  it 
had  just  occurred  to  him  that,  on  the  new  order 
of  things,  the  church  could  support  a  station  at 
home  and  one  abroad. 

''In  that  case,"  said  Mr.  Seward,  "it  would  be 
a  great  satisfaction  to  me  to  have  my  two  thou- 
sand dollars  divided  and  used  for  a  definite  share 
in  the  equipment  of  those  new  stations.  I  should 
Hke  to  have  it  put  somewhere  where  it  would 
have  to  work  as  hard  for  the  lost  as  I  have 
worked  to  earn  it." 

Mightily  encouraged  by  this  success,  the  two 
canvassers  went  their  way  to  other  homes  and 
ofiices,  growing  themselves  in  earnestness  and 
sympathy  as  they  found  how  many  were  simply 
waiting  for  the  personal  touch,  to  exhibit  a  better 
side  to  natures  apparently  quite  insensible  to  the 
appeal  of  a  world's  need.  In  more  than  one  case 
they  found  the  new  idea  of  ''a  parish  abroad,"  a 
definite  personal  responsibihty  at  home  and 
abroad,  a  powerful  means  of  securing  far  larger 
subscriptions  than  would  otherwise  have  been 
forthcoming.     At  every  opportunity  they  passed 


WITH    YOU   ALWA  YS  211 

on    the    suggestion    to    other    canvassers,    who 
found  in  it  similar  effectiveness.     The  thought 
of  having  the  portraits  of  their  own  missionaries, 
and  the  pictures  of  the  buildings,  in  the  parlors 
of  the  church,  and  of  hearing  the  direct  reports  of 
the  work,  gave  a  reaUty  and  a  zest  to  the  matter 
which  they  had  never  before  associated  with  mis- 
sions; it  began  to  seem  their  work,  and  they  were 
ready  to  do  their  share.     The  idea  grew  upon  the 
workers,   and  after  the  midweek    service    they 
held  a  special  meeting  for  conference  with  one 
another  and  with  the  pastor.     It  was  already 
quite  evident  that  the  church  would  be  able  to  un- 
dertake the  entire  support  of  one  or  more  mis- 
sion stations.     Some  one  ventured  the  inquiry 
whether  it  would  not  be  more  broadening  to  mind 
and  heart  to  contribute  to  the  general  funds  of 
the  boards  for  world-wide  work;   but  it  was  the 
general  consensus  of  opinion  that,  human  nature 
being  what  it  is,  the  personal  touch  would  add 
so  much  keenness  to  the  church's  interest  as  to 
insure  far  larger  and  more  universal  contribution 
to  the  work,  and  more  intelligent  prayer  for  its 
every  need  and  opportunity.     Determining   to 
await  only  the  early  conclusion  of  the  canvass, 
before  conferring  with  the  boards  as  to  definite 
fields,  the  pastor  hailed  with  thanksgiving  this 
new  sign  of  the  presence  and  power  of  the  living 
Christ  among  his  people. 

The  two  ladies  of  the  Missionary  Committee 
naturally    made    their    visits     together.     Mrs. 


212  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

Wentworth  loved  Gertrude  Austin  almost  as  well 
as  she  loved  her  own  daughter  Grace;  and  no  pair 
could  have  been  more  congenial  for  this  work, 
the  matron  to  give  dignity,  the  maiden  to  add 
winsomeness.  Sometimes  it  was  the  dignity 
which  won  the  day,  sometimes  the  winsomeness; 
but  won  it  was  in  every  case.  It  required  two 
visits  to  the  home  of  Miss  Greene,  whom  Mrs. 
Wentworth  had  taken  as  her  "special  object." 
At  the  first  visit,  during  the  early  part  of  the 
week,  they  had  knocked  at  the  door  of  the  httle 
old  cottage  tucked  away  among  the  more  preten- 
tious houses  on  the  chief  residence  street,  bid- 
ding defiance  to  their  pretensions  in  much  the 
same  fashion  in  which  the  little  old  lady,  its 
owner,  held  up  her  head  among  the  residents  of 
the  street,  regardless  of  the  faded  glories  of  her 
once  prosperous  estate.  To  hold  the  place,  she 
really  pinched  in  money  and  in  food,  but  re- 
sented every  suggestion  that  the  price  which  her 
affluent  neighbors  were  eager  to  give  for  the 
unsightly  old  place  would  keep  her  in  more  than 
comfort  on  another  street  for  the  rest  of  her  days. 
As  far  as  she  was  fond  of  anyone,  she  was  fond  of 
Mrs.  Wentworth;  and  Gertrude  Austin  had  tried 
more  than  once  to  cheer  her  loneliness.  Both, 
therefore,  were  given  as  cordial  a  welcome  as  she 
ever  gave  anybody;  but  they  found  to  their  dis- 
may that  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  introduce  the 
object  of  their  visit.  Mrs.  Wentworth  asked  Miss 
Greene  how  regularly  her  health  had  permitted 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  213 

her  to  attend  the  church  services  recently,  and 
received  the  reply : 

''Well,  I  guess  I  haven't  grown  so  decrepit 
yet  but  what  I  can  get  out  to  the  house  of  God. 
There  was  a  time  when  I  didn't  want  to  go  at  all, 
because  I  always  had  to  sit  way  back  on  one  side, 
or  else  plumb  under  the  preacher's  nose.  But 
when  the  people  had  the  good  sense  and  piety  to 
do  away  with  respect  of  persons  in  the  house  of 
God  by  aboUshing  those  pew  rents,  I  was  able  to 
take  my  old  place  among  the  first  families  of  the 
church,  and  sit  in  as  good  a  pew  as  any  of  them, 
if  I  couldn't  any  longer  pay  two  hundred  dollars 
for  it,  as  my  father  used  to  do.  I  know  they 
don't  like  it;  but  they'll  have  to  learn  that  I  have 
just  as  good  blood  in  my  veins  as  they  have  in 
theirs;  and  lots  better  than  some.  I  can  hold  my 
head  up  yet,  if  the  old  estate  has  gone  to  grief. 
Do  you  know,  Mrs.  Wentworth,  they're  still  after 
me  for  this  old  place  where  my  father  and  grand- 
father were  born  and  died;  and  they  seem  to  think 
I'll  have  to  come  to  it  before  long — sort  o'  starved 
into  it,  you  know.  What  do  you  suppose  Judge 
Melrose  offered  me  for  the  place  the  other  day? 
Not  a  cent  short  of  twenty  thousand  dollars.  Of 
course,  the  house  isn't  worth  anything  to  speak  of; 
but  he  wants  the  land.  I  wouldn't  let  him  have 
it  for  twice  that,  just  to  show  him  that  money  isn't 
everything  in  this  world — that  family  pride  isn't 
easily  crushed." 

"  But  just  think,  Miss  Greene,  how  much  more 


214  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

comfortable  you  might  be  in  that  little  vacant 
house  next  to  ours,  for  example,  living  on  the 
interest  of  that  money,  and  able  to  do  so  much 
more  for  others  than  you  can  now  do!"  urged 
Mrs.  Wentworth,  looking  unlimited  pity  into  the 
eyes  of  the  proud  woman.  "You  know  how 
much  we  all  think  of  you;  but  I  can't  help  won- 
dering sometimes  whether  family  pride  is  worth 
everything  else  in  the  world  put  together.  For- 
give me  if  I  speak  too  plainly  in  saying  that  I 
don't  think  what  our  ancestors  were  or  did  is  half 
so  important  to  us  as  what  we  ourselves  are  and 
are  doing.  Are  our  good  works  honoring  our 
ancestors  and  our  God?  " 

''Oh!  now  I  see  what  you  came  for:  it  wasn't 
to  see  me  and  cheer  me  up,  as  you  used  to,  but 
just  to  try  to  get  me  to  give  to  missions.  I 
haven't  three  hundred  dollars  a  year  to  keep  up 
this  place  and  feed  and  clothe  myself.  I  can't 
bring  myself  to  give  up  the  old  family  habit  of 
always  putting  silver  in  the  collection  plate  for 
church  support,  but  that  five  dollars  and  twenty 
cents  a  year  is  every  last  cent  I  can  pinch  out  of 
my  income  to  give  away;  so  if  that's  what  you've 
come  for,  you'll  have  your  labor  for  your  pains." 

"O  Miss  Greene!"  put  in  Gertrude  Austin, 
"these  last  few  weeks  in  our  church  have  been 
bringing  us  all  so  much  joy  that  we  truly  thought 
we  should  be  addiiig  to  your  joy  by  telling  you 
how  we  got  ours,  and  inviting  you  to  try  the  same 
plan.     It's  partnership  with  Jesus  in  his  redemp- 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  215 


tive  work  that  brings  the  cheer  that  is  most  satis- 
fying.    Don't  you  believe  it?  " 

''It's  all  very  easy  for  you  to  talk  about  it, 
Gertrude  Austin,  for  you  never  had  to  deny  your- 
self anything  since  you  were  born.  It  is  very 
different  for  one  who,  like  myself,  has  once  had 
plenty,  but  is  now  reduced  to  grinding  poverty." 

''Are  you,  Miss  Greene?"  slowly  asked  Mrs. 
Wentworth,  rising  to  take  her  departure,  and 
again  looking  searchingly,  yet  tenderly,  into  the 
eyes  of  the  sensitive  little  woman,  whom,  after 
formal  farewells,  they  left  standing  in  her  own 
doorway,  gazing  miournfully  after  them. 

"Do  you  think  we  shall  have  to  give  her  up, 
Mother  Wentworth?"  asked  Gertrude,  as  they 
walked  away.  "She  is  one  of  the  charter  mem- 
bers of  this  church,  and  it  seems  a  great  pity  to 
leave  her  out." 

"We  have  done  our  part,  Gertie,  and  we'll  just 
leave  the  Lord  to  do  his  now,  dear.  I  have  an 
idea  that  he  has  used  us  to  make  an  impression, 
and  we  must  simply  keep  right  on  praying.  Let 
me  see,  the  next  person  on  our  list  is  Mrs.  Bell, 
two  blocks  north  and  one  block  east;  also  a  small 
house,  but  where  small  houses  look  more  com- 
fortable than  they  do  here.  Poor  Miss  Greene, 
how  she  is  shutting  herself  out  of  the  joy  of  her 
Lord!" 

Mrs.  Bell  was  a  widow  who  supported  herself 
and  her  daughter,  a  girl  of  twelve  years,  by  dress- 
making.    Her  services  were  much  in   demand 


216  WITB    YOU   ALWAYS 

and  she  earned  a  modest  competence,  realizing 
to  the  full  that  it  had  been  earned  and  must  not 
be  wasted.  She  had  been  a  faithful  member  of 
the  congregation,  contributing  moderately  but 
regularly  to  the  support  of  the  church;  but  she 
had  never  united  with  the  church  nor  given  any- 
thing to  its  benevolences,  unless  it  might  be  an 
occasional  nickel  in  the  collections.  On  the  pre- 
vious Sabbath  she  had  turned  in  her  pledge  for 
current  expenses,  leaving  the  other  half  blank. 
She  was  hard  at  work  with  her  sewing  when  the 
visitors  arrived,  but  welcomed  them  heartily, 
and  when  they  were  seated  apologized  for  working 
while  she  talked,  saying: 

"I  know  you  will  forgive  me  if  I  keep  right  on 
with  my  sewing,  for  I've  promised  this  work  to- 
night, and  it  will  be  as  much  as  I  am  worth  to  get 
it  done.  But,  as  you  know,  my  fingers  and  my 
tongue  are  quite  independent  of  one  another,  and 
I'm  delighted  to  see  you.  I  hope  that  last  suit 
I  made  you  has  given  you  good  satisfaction,  Miss 
Austin." 

"Oh,  yes,  Mrs.  Bell;  you  always  fit  me  beauti- 
fully," replied  Gertrude.  ''In  these  days,  when 
it  is  so  hard  to  find  a  dressmaker  of  any  kind,  I 
often  wonder  how  you  can  afford  to  give  so  much 
attention  to  the  little  details;  but  you  never  seem 
to  slight  any  of  them,  and  your  customers  highly 
appreciate  it." 

"Well,  Miss  Austin,  when  I  was  a  girl  my 
mother  used  to  say  to  me  over  and  over  again, 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  217 

'Whether  you  do  big  things  or  whether  you  do 
Httle,  always  do  your  best.'  I  used  to  fret  a  bit 
over  the  advice,  but  it's  been  my  salvation. 
Whenever  I've  been  tempted  to  skimp  my  work 
mother's  words  and  her  own  example  have  always 
come  before  me;  and  whatever  success  I  have 
made  I  owe  to  her.  She  was  a  good  Christian 
if  there  ever  was  one." 

"I  don't  suppose  that  means  that  you  have 
any  doubt  as  to  the  existence  of  such  a  person, 
does  it?"  asked  Gertrude,  half  laughing. 

''Not  exactly,  in  the  presence  of  yourself  and 
Mrs.  Wentworth,"  replied  Mrs.  Bell.  "There's 
no  doubt  about  you  two ;  but  I  can't  say  as  much 
for  some  other  members  of  your  church.  If  they 
would  pay  their  debts,  I  should  not  have  to  work 
so  hard,  and  would  perhaps  be  able  to  indulge  in 
some  benevolence,  as  well  as  paying  my  dues  for 
the  support  of  the  church.  I  always  beheved  in 
being  just  before  being  generous,  especially  when 
your  injustice  may  prevent  some  one  else  from 
being  generous  with  what  rightly  belongs  to  him. 
Perhaps  you'll  hardly  believe  it,  but  I  have  every 
bit  of  eight  hundred  dollars  now  on  my  books 
against  members  of  our  church,  and  some  of  it 
has  been  there  for  two  years  or  more.  I  will  say 
this,  however,  that  there  was  twice  that  much 
charged  two  months  ago,  and  it  is  wonderful  how 
many  have  come  and  paid  me  recently,  some  of 
them  making  very  humble  apologies  for  their  neg- 
lect, too." 


218  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

"Wonderful,  isn't  it,  how  a  realization  of  the 
presence  of  Jesus  Christ  straightens  out  all  sorts 
of  crooked  places  in  our  lives!"  exclaimed  Mrs. 
Wentworth.  "A  few  moments'  view  of  him  gives 
us  such  a  view  of  ourselves  as  we  have  never  had 
before,  doesn't  it?  " 

"  Do  you  really  think  that  is  what  has  made  the 
difference,  Mrs.  Wentworth?  I  wondered  a  good 
deal  about  it.  Certainly,  a  thing  which  will  do 
that  is  worth  ha\dng.  I  don't  know  much  about 
that  sort  of  thing.  My  mother,  honest  and  sen- 
sible as  she  was,  never  had  it.  My  husband, 
straight  as  an  arrow,  never  had  it.  They  both 
tried  to  Hve  as  well  as  they  knew  how,  but  they 
never  joined  the  church  because  they  saw  lots  of 
folks  in  the  church  who  were  not  so  straight  as 
they  were;  but,  to  tell  the  truth,  I  have  never 
been  quite  satisfied  with  that  idea.  The  fact 
that  there  are  paste  diamonds  doesn't  make  the 
real  thing  a  bit  less  beautiful,  or  less  valuable; 
and  being  honest  isn't  the  only  thing  in  Hfe." 

''O  Mrs.  Bell!  I  am  so  glad  to  hear  you  talk 
this  way,  for  we  have  been  wishing  and  praying 
that  you  might  find  Jesus  Christ  all  we  have 
found  him,  and  all  we  are  going  to  find  him.  Life 
would  be  twice  as  well  worth  Uving  with  Jesus  as 
Saviour  and  Master  and  ever-present  Friend. 
Honesty  then  becomes  a  vastly  broader  and 
higher  thing,  when  it  glorifies,  not  merely  us, 
but  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ  and  our  Father  in 
heaven.     His    kingdom    and    his    righteousness 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  219 

become  the  first  thing  in  our  Hves,  and  his  fath- 
erly care  adds  every  other  needful  thing.  You 
know  the  gospel,  that  Christ  died  that  we  might 
live;  it  was  the  great  outpouring  of  the  Father's 
love.  Accept  it,  let  it  fill  you,  and  it  will  bring 
you  a  joy  such  as  you  have  never  experienced. 
Christ  wants  you!     We  want  you!  " 

The  sewing  had  ceased  for  some  minutes:  the 
tears  began  to  fall  on  the  strangely  idle  hands 
and  the  quiet  work.  Mrs.  Bell  bowed  her  head 
on  the  shoulder  of  the  dear  old  lady,  who  had 
drawn  her  chair  closer  to  her  as  she  spoke  her 
loving  desire;  and  then  and  there  gave  herself 
to  her  newly  found  Lord.  After  a  few  moments 
of  silent  prayer  by  all  three,  the  dressmaker 
raised  a  smiling  face,  saying : 

"I  can  never  thank  you  two  dear  friends  enough 
for  coming  to  see  me  this  afternoon.  I  feel  that 
I  can  love  people  now:  before  I  merely  tried  to 
be  just  to  them,  and,  of  course,  I  didn't  succeed, 
for  I  can  see  now  that  a  part  of  our  just  debts  is 
just  that  very  love  that  we  don't  give.  I  feel  as 
if  one  of  the  things  I  must  do  first  is  to  get  back 
that  half  pledge  I  made  out  on  Sunday  and  fill 
in  the  other  half,  whether  people  pay  their  debts 
to  me  or  not.  Do  you  know  who  has  them  in 
charge?  " 

'  Mrs.  Wentworth  smilingly  drew  forth  Mrs. 
Bell's  pledge  and  told  her  of  their  errand  in  com- 
ing to  her.  A  pen  was  sought,  the  blank  filled 
out,  and  shown  to  Mrs.  Wentworth,  who  ex- 


220  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

claimed  at  the  amount — one  dollar  a  week  for 
benevolences : 

"You  understand,  do  you,  Mrs.  Bell,  that  that 
is  so  much  a  week?  Are  you  sure  you  can  afford 
to  give  that  much?  " 

"When  I  find  I  can't  afford  it,  I'll  change  it; 
but,  you  see,  I  too  have  some  back  debts  to  pay, 
Mrs.  Wentworth;  and  for  church  and  benevo- 
lences I  am  certainly  not  going  to  give  less  than 
the  old  Jews  gave.  Have  you  any  more  of  those 
pledges  with  you?  I  want  to  talk  with  my  little 
girl  about  it  and  try  to  teach  her  love  as  well  as 
honesty." 

The  visitors  left  the  house,  marveling  once  more 
at  the  power  of  God's  Spirit,  and  went  home  to 
other  duties.  That  evening  Mrs.  Wentw^orth 
was  greatly  surprised  to  receive  a  note  from  Miss 
Greene,  which  read  as  follows : 

"My  dear  Mrs.  Wentworth:  After  you  and  Miss 
Austin  had  left  me  this  afternoon  I  felt  so  ashamed 
of  myself  for  my  treatment  of  you  that  I  could 
not  sit  down  quietly  to  anything,  but  just  paced 
up  and  down,  realizing  more  clearly  every  minute 
the  foolishness  and  even  wickedness  of  that  old 
family  pride,  which  was  making  me  miserable, 
disagreeable,  ridiculous  and  useless.  When  I 
had  sat  for  a  while  in  sackcloth  and  ashes,  I  saw 
Judge  Melrose  pass  the  house  and  enter  his  own 
door.  A  few  minutes  later  I  went  over  to  his 
house,  apologized  to  him  for  my  very  disagreeable 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  221 

behavior  in  the  past,  and  told  him  that  I  would 
be  very  glad  to  accept  his  offer  for  my  house  and 
land.  And  what  do  you  suppose  he  said  ?  He 
looked  at  me  in  the  most  amused  fashJon  for  a 
minute,  and  then  said:  'I  guess  you  must  have 
been  struck  by  the  Presbyterian  reform  move- 
ment, too,  Miss  Delia?  Their  whirlwind  cam- 
paign seems  likely  to  whirl  the  whole  town  into 
line.  They've  got  me,  too.  I've  been  dodging 
them  for  weeks,  but  found  it  was  no  use  and  sur- 
rendered to-day.  After  they  get  through  with 
my  purse  and  bank  account  I  don't  know  that 
there  will  be  enough  left  to  buy  your  place;  but 
if  it's  going  to  help  you  also  to  reform  I  shall  have 
to  manage  some  way.  What  do  you  think? 
They've  got  me  to  build  a  boarding  school  and 
support  a  missionary  teacher  at  the  new  station 
the  church  is  going  to  start.  Ha,  ha!  it  makes 
me  feel  as  if  I  was  young  and  just  going  to  work 
again;  so  don't  be  scared  at  my  unwonted  levity, 
Miss  DeHa.  We'll  see  about  the  papers  to- 
morrow.' 

"I  have  never  seen  Judge  Melrose  in  such  a 
mood  in  my  Hfe.  Now,  please  forgive  me  for 
being  so  disagreeable  to-day  and  come  again 
to-morrow,  both  of  you,  if  you  have  time.  Bring 
your  pledges,  and  we'll  see  what  we  can  do. 
"Apologetically  yours, 
"Delia  Greene." 

The  two  ladies  gladly  found  time  the  next  day, 


222  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

were  given  a  warm  welcome,  and  carried  away 
with  them  another  pledge  of  one  dollar  a  week, 
together  with  a  commission  to  engage  the  pretty 
Uttle  cottage  next  to  Mrs.  Wentworth's  for  the 
early  occupation  of  the  woman  who  had  con- 
cluded that  there  was  much  more  joy  in  keeping 
heart  high  than  head. 


CHAPTER  X 

A   MISSIONARY    BOND 

A  WEEK  of  earnest  effort  practically  com- 
pleted the  canvass.  On  the  last  day  but 
one  of  that  week,  in  the  evening,  the  can- 
vassers met  to  confer,  and  it  was  found  that  but 
five  of  the  resident  members  of  the  church  had 
thus  far  proved  recalcitrant.  These  were  reas- 
signed to  other  members  of  the  committee  for 
the  following  morning,  and  to  still  others  for  the 
afternoon,  should  the  morning  appeal  prove  un- 
availing. Special  prayer  was  asked  for  these 
final  efforts,  and  when  the  time  came  on  Saturday 
evening  for  the  final  report,  there  was  but  one 
member  of  the  church  whose  pledge  had  not  been 
secured,  and  that  was  Mr.  Talbot,  the  druggist. 

"Let's  go  in  a  body  and  carry  him  b}^  storm," 
suggested  Mr.  Gilbert.  ''It  won't  do  to  leave 
him  out,  and  the  fact  is  that  more  than  a  pledge 
for  benevolence  hangs  on  this  matter  with  him." 

The  novel  idea  took  with  the  committee,  and 
the  twenty-one  visitors,  including  the  pastor, 
marched  two  by  two  in  procession  to  the  drug 
store,  where  they  found  a  considerable  number 
of  Saturday  night  customers  and  loungers,  some 
of  whom  looked  on  with  wonder,  while  others  sus- 
pected the  motive  of  the  visit.  It  was  quite 
evident  that  Mr.  Talbot  more  than  suspected. 
223 


224  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

He  fumbled  with  the  string  of  the  parcel  which  he 
was  doing  up  for  a  customer,  but  after  it  was 
finished,  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Stanton,  he  in- 
vited the  company  into  his  office  in  the  rear  and 
shut  the  door  on  the  curious,  saying : 

"This  is  certainly  an  unusual  and  an  unex- 
pected pleasure,  to  have  a  \dsit  from  pastor, 
session,  deacons  and  trustees,  all  at  once,  and 
on  Saturday  night.  What  can  I  do  for  you, 
ladies  and  gentlemen?  " 

"We  are  not  seeking  any  favor  for  ourselves, 
Mr.  Talbot,"  replied  Mr.  Stanton;  "but  the  fact 
is  that  our  church,  with  a  minority  of  only  one, 
has  voted  to  do  the  work  for  which  Christ  estab- 
lished his  church  in  the  world,  namely,  to  go  or 
send  into  all  the  world  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
every  creature;  and  we  cannot  rest  content  until 
that  vote  is  made  unanimous.  You  are  now  the 
only  resident  member  of  this  church  \\ithout  a 
share  in  this  work,  and  we  cannot  believe  that 
one  member  can  be  right  and  the  other  eight  hun- 
dred wrong.  So  we  ask  you  to  tell  us,  the  officers 
of  church  and  congregation,  why  you  are  unwill- 
ing to  join  with  us  in  carrying  out  the  mission  of 
Christ  and  his  church.  We  are  all  friends,  as  you 
know,  Mr.  Talbot,  and  fellow-members  of  the  body 
of  Christ." 

A  minute  or  two  passed  before  the  druggist 
made  any  reply;  then  he  said  slowly: 

"When  you  came  in  this  evening,  Mr.  Stanton 
and  the  rest  of  you,  I  was  strongly  inclined  to 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  225 

resent  the  visit  as  an  impertinence.  Once  early 
in  the  week,  and  twice  to-day,  I  had  already  re- 
fused to  make  any  pledge  toward  the  benevo- 
lences of  the  church,  giving  the  reason  that  I  did 
not  believe  in  pledges  for  such  things.  But  your 
courteous  yet  strongly  reproving  words  to-night 
have  brought  to  a  cHmax  the  inward  struggles  of 
several  weeks.  The  reason  I  gave  my  visitors 
was  only  an  excuse.  You  are  all  my  friends,  and 
I  will  tell  you  without  fear.  The  fact  of  the  mat- 
ter is  that  my  business  has  been  accusing  me  so 
severely  since  that  first  day  when  our  pastor  told 
his  vision  that  I  have  never  had  an  easy  con- 
science from  that  day  to  this.  The  drug  business 
looks  like  a  clean  business,  and,  indeed,  it  may 
be  so,  but  in  too  many  cases  the  clean  exterior 
covers  a  multitude  of  rottennesses.  Look  here," 
and  he  opened  a  door  in  the  rear  of  the  room, 
where  they  beheld  a  genteel  secret  bar.  "There 
is  where  most  of  my  money  has  been  made.  And 
my  soda  clerk  can  take  a  wink  as  to  a  '  stick'  in 
soft  drinks  as  quickly  as  anyone.  And  many  of 
my  finest  confections  are  filled  with  liquor.  The 
cigars  and  cigarettes  bought  by  young  people  here 
are  impoverishing  them  financially  and  physi- 
cally, and  the  amount  of  adulteration  now  com- 
mon in  the  putting  up  of  prescriptions  is  enough 
to  send  a  man  to  prison  for  life,  if  discovered. 
Sunday  is  one  of  the  busiest  days  of  the  week  for 
us;  not  in  medicines,  but  in  cigars,  soda  water 
and  candy.  Do  you  wonder  that  I  have  not  re- 
15 


226  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

joiced  in  the  realization  of  the  presence  of  Christ, 
or  been  eager  to  send  the  gospel  to  others?  If  I 
am  going  to  be  a  Christian,  I  have  either  got  to 
clean  up  this  business  or  get  out  of  it.  With  com- 
petition what  it  is,  I  doubt  if  I  can  live  on  the 
business  when  it  is  cleaned  up;  but  what  is  a  man 
profited  if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  his 
own  soul?  There  will  be  a  dead  loss  on  some 
perishable  things  prepared  for  to-morrow's  trade; 
but  I  will  get  ready  a  notice  at  once  to  post  on  the 
door,  that  nothing  will  be  sold  here  on  Sunday 
except  medicines,  and  those  only  during  limited 
hours.  There  will  be  some  disgusted  customers 
to-morrow." 

"I  believe  the  Christians  in  town  will  rally  to 
the  support  of  a  druggist  who  takes  such  a  stand 
as  that,  and  make  up  to  you  for  some  of  your 
losses  with  increased  trade  in  other  Unes,"  said 
the  pastor,  warmly  grasping  the  hand  of  Mr. 
Talbot,  who,  however,  smiled  grimly,  as  he  re- 
marked: 

''What  will  you  say,  Mr.  Stanton,  when  I  tell 
you  that  fully  half  of  my  Sunday  sales,  outside  of 
medicines,  are  to  members  of  the  churches  and 
their  children?  Why,  it  is  quite  common  to  hear 
the  Sunday-school  children,  coming  in  here  for 
candy  and  soda,  joking  about  their  needing  these 
things  more  than  the  heathen  do  missionaries. 
But  what  can  you  expect  of  children  when  they 
see  their  parents,  on  the  same  day,  come  here  for 
cigars  and  other  unnecessary  things?     It's  the 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  227 

so-called  Christians  who  seem  to  necessitate  most 
of  this  Sunday  opening,  just  as  it  is  with  the  ever- 
increasing  Sunday  travel.  And  the  same  thing 
is  true  of  some  of  the  other  bad  features  of  our 
business." 

"Have  you  seen  many  of  our  people  in  here  on 
Sunday,  the  last  few  weeks,  Mr.  Talbot?" 

"No,  Mr.  Stanton,  I'll  have  to  admit,  and  I'm 
glad  to  admit,  that  there  has  been  a  great  falling 
off  in  Presbyterian  Sunday  custom  here  since  that 
remarkable  Sunday,  and  in  the  other  Unes  too; 
and  that  has  been  one  of  the  things  which  has 
made  my  conscience  very  uneasy.  Well,  I  shall 
try  a  clean  drug  business  for  a  while,  and,  if  I  can 
make  a  Hving,  shall  stick  to  it,  for  I  Hke  the  busi- 
ness; but  it  shall  be  a  question  of  clean  or  close. 
In  the  uncertainty  as  to  whether  we  can  make  a 
clean  store  go  or  not,  I  can't  promise  very  much 
for  the  coming  year  for  benevolences;  but  I  can 
make  it  one  dollar  a  week  anyway,  and  perhaps 
increase  it  later." 

The  list  was  complete !  A  soul  was  saved  from 
deadly  peril!  The  experiment  of  a  clean  drug 
store  in  Jaconsett  proved  a  success.  Stephen 
Talbot,  working  in  the  store  with  his  father,  was 
so  overcome  by  the  revolution  which  began  that 
Saturday  night  that  he  no  longer  despised  the 
Christian  profession  on  account  of  the  inconsis- 
tency of  his  father  and  other  Christians,  whose 
weaknesses  he  had  seen,  but  came  out  clearly  as 
a  follower  of  the  Master,  and  thus  completed  the 


228  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

circle  of  Dr.  Sears'  class.  It  was  late  that  night 
before  the  committee  had  its  report  complete  for 
presentation  next  day;  but  all  its  members  slept 
the  sleep  of  thankful  satisfaction,  and  awoke  as- 
sured that  they  should  have  the  blessed  presence 
of  their  Lord  yet  more  fully  manifested  as  they 
went  up  to  his  holy  house. 

That  house  was  packed  to  the  doors  when  the 
ser\ice  began  with  the  doxology,  never  so  fully 
appreciated  before.  The  note  of  praise  pervaded 
the  entire  ser\'ice,  and  Mr.  Stanton  took  as  his 
text  the  eleventh  verse  of  the  ninth  chapter  of 
the  Second  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians:  ''Being 
enriched  in  everything  unto  all  liberality,  which 
worketh  through  us  thanksgi\dng  to  God,"  and 
that  which  he  based  thereon  was  rather  a  thankful 
account  of  what  the  church  had  been  led  to  ac- 
compHsh  when  its  whole  life  had  been  enriched 
by  the  \dsion  of  its  Master's  presence,  than  an 
exhortation  to  the  fulfillment  of  an  obligation. 

"We  may  congratulate  ourselves,"  he  said, 
"  but  rather  give  praise  to  our  God,  that  we  are  the 
first  church  of  any  considerable  size  in  the  United 
States  of  America  to  attain  to  the  ideal  of  a  part 
for  every  member  in  the  local  church  support,  in 
the  helping  of  the  poor,  and  in  the  evangelization 
of  the  world.  Yet  how  poor  a  ground  for  self- 
congratulation  it  seems  when  we  think  for  a 
moment  that  that  merely  means  that  we  are  the 
first  church  to  be  consistent  with  the  very  con- 
stitution and  mission  of  the  church,  the  first  to 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  229 

come  unanimously  to  the  conclusion  that  we  will 
take  marching  orders  from  the  One  whom  every 
one  of  us  long  ago  declared  to  be  the  Great  Com- 
mander! Let  us  be  humbly  thankful,  rather  than 
boastful,  as  we  look  over  the  fruits  of  the  cam- 
paign, which  had  to  be  waged  first  among  our  own 
forces  before  we  were  in  any  condition  to  wage  a 
victorious  campaign  against  the  enemy.  For  the 
first  time  in  its  history,  Westminster  Church  has, 
in  some  adequate  sense,  realized  the  power  that 
lies  in  singleness  of  aim,  unitedness  of  effort  and 
a  holy  ambition ;  for  the  first  time  it  has  attained 
to  some  appreciation  of  the  fact  that  true  riches 
are  not  in  the  things  received  and  held  and  used 
for  self,  but  in  bountifulness;  that  a  man's  Hfe 
consisteth  not  in  the  abundance  of  the  things 
which  he  possesseth,  not  even  in  the  financial 
measure  of  the  gifts  which  he  gives,  but  in  the 
loving-kindness  of  his  heart  toward  all  men,  and 
the  expression  of  that  loving-kindness  in  a  self- 
forgetting  service,  in  person  or  through  his 
means.  We  have  come  to  these  convictions 
through  the  only  effective  way — through  the 
realization  that  our  God  is  not  the  God  of  the 
dead  but  the  God  of  the  li\'ing,  that  the  visible 
Master  of  the  Apostles  is  just  as  truly  our  Master 
and  present  wdth  us,  though  invisible  to  the  eye 
of  flesh.  If  we  never  lose  the  vision,  we  shall 
never  lose  these  most  precious  of  all  riches:  when 
we  have  once  tasted  of  the  heavenly  gift,  who 
of  us  could  wish  to  return  to  the  husks? 


230  WITE    YOU   ALWAYS 

"You  are  all  interested  in  learning  of  the  finan- 
cial results,  though  they  are,  after  all,  not  the 
matter  of  chief  importance.  I  rejoice  more  over 
the  one  who  has  heretofore  given  nothing  and 
now  gives  ten  cents  a  week  than  over  the  one  who 
has  given  ten  cents  and  now  gives  twenty  cents, 
because  the  former  has  formerly  had  no  part  in 
the  work  of  his  Lord,  has  accepted  no  measure  of 
responsibility  as  his,  while  now  he  accepts  one. 
I  rejoice  more  over  the  child  with  an  income  of 
twenty-five  cents  a  week  who  gives  five  cents,  than 
over  the  man  with  an  income  of  one  hundred  dol- 
lars a  week  who  gives  five  dollars,  because  the 
former  involves  the  larger  self-sacrifice.  Were 
it  not  for  the  violation  of  confidences,  I  should 
like  much  to  tell  you  of  some  of  those  the  abun- 
dance of  whose  joy  and  their  deep  poverty  have 
abounded  unto  the  riches  of  their  hberality. 
There  are  some  among  us  who  will  some  day  see 
a  larger  vision  than  they  have  yet  seen,  will  do 
larger  things  and  grow  more  rich  toward  God, 
with  consequent  richer  blessings  for  themselves. 
But  we  all  have  some  part  in  the  joy  and  thanks- 
giving of  this  day;  and  it  shall  be  only  a  day  of 
thanksgiving  for  us,  except  as  that  thanksgiving 
may  lead — as  it  always  should — to  renewed  con- 
secration. 

"Now  for  the  figures:  Last  year,  out  of  seven 
hundred  and  seventy  resident  members  of  the 
church,  three  hundred  and  twenty-five  gave 
toward  the  support  of  the  church,  also  eighty- 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  231 

three  who  were  not  members,  making  four  hun- 
dred and  eight,  giving  six  thousand  three  hundred 
and  fifty  dollars.  During  this  new  year  seven 
hundred  and  seventy  members  and  one  hundred 
and  thirty-seven  others  are  to  give  for  this  pur- 
pose a  total  of  eleven  thousand  four  hundred  and 
thirty-five  dollars.  The  fact  that,  though  all  are 
now  giving,  and  many  twice  as  much  as  before,  the 
total  is  not  twice  the  former  figure,  indicates  that 
the  non-givers  had  been,  for  the  most  part,  those 
of  modest  incomes,  who  felt  that  the  church  was 
well  cared  for  without  their  assistance;  and  also 
that  there  is  considered  to  be  a  Hmit  to  the  needs 
of  the  local  church.  They  have  been  convinced 
that  the  former  is  not  true,  while  the  latter  is. 
We  can,  to  good  advantage,  spend  on  better  facili- 
ties for  worship  and  work  the  larger  sum  now  at 
our  disposal ;  but  to  put  much  more  than  this  into 
the  work  would  be  unwise  and  wrong,  in  view 
of  the  world's  need. 

''For  local  beneficence  there  was  given,  by  an 
unknown  number  of  givers,  last  year,  two  hundred 
and  thirty  dollars.  This  year  every  member  of 
the  church  and  many  of  the  congregation  will 
unite  in  giving  twenty-five  hundred  dollars,  the 
greater  portion  of  which  will,  perhaps,  be  used 
for  the  starting  of  the  long-talked-of  mission 
church  and  Sunday  school  on  Kendall  Street. 

"  For  home  missions,  approximately  two  hun- 
dred and  seventy  members  of  the  church  and 
fifteen  of  the  congregation  gave  last  year  fifteen 


232  WITH    YOU   ALWAYS 

hundred  twenty-seven  dollars  and  forty-five 
cents,  not  counting  what  was  given  at  the  close 
of  the  year  by  a  number  in  atonement  for  past 
shortcomings.  This  year  seven  hundred  and 
seventy  members  of  the  church  and  ninety-four 
of  the  congregation  will  gi\-e  twehe  thousand 
five  hundred  dollars.  The  church  can  support 
with  this  sum  eight  or  ten  missionaries  and  their 
work,  in  several  difi'erent  states,  or  two  or  three 
stations  or  schools. 

''For  foreign  missions,  with  their  almost  un- 
limited needs,  during  the  past  year,  approxi- 
mately two  hmidred  and  twenty  members  of  the 
church  and  five  of  the  congregation  have  gixen 
seven  hundred  twenty-five  dollars  and  thirty 
cents.  This  year  seven  hundred  and  seventy 
members  and  eighty-five  of  the  congregation  have 
promised  to  give  thirty-seven  thousand  five  hun- 
dred and  forty  dollars  for  this  cause;  and  ^^ith 
this  sum  we  can  either  support  one  large  mission 
station  or  two  or  three  small  ones  in  the  midst  of 
heathenism,  with  all  their  varied  forms  of  mis- 
sionary actiWty,  or  provide  for  twenty  mis- 
sionary families  in  as  many  different  fields.  At 
our  next  concert  of  prayer  we  will  consider  and 
determine  these  questions. 

"Xo  doubt  the  question  will  arise  in  the  minds 
of  some  of  you  as  to  whether  there  is  any  call 
for  such  sums  of  money  for  the  work.  Brief  con- 
sideration will  remind  us  that  other  churches 
are  not  yet  gi\'ing  in  this  way,  and  that,  even 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  233 

were  we  to  give  ten  times  as  much  as  this,  it 
would  supply  but  a  small  fraction  of  the- increase 
in  annual  contributions  importunately  needed 
by  the  Presbyterian  Church  if  it  would  meet  the 
present  opportunity  and  fulfill  in  the  next  few 
years  its  measure  of  responsibihty  for  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world.  WTiy  do  these  figures 
look  large?  Not  by  comparison  with  the  other 
ways  in  which  we  spend  money;  not  by  com- 
parison with  our  means;  for,  add  together  all  the 
items  I  have  mentioned,  and  you  still  are  far 
below  even  one-tenth  of  the  aggregate  income  of 
the  members  of  the  church  and  congregation.  No ; 
it  is  by  comparison  Vvith  the  pitiful  playing  with 
the  King's  business,  to  which  the  church  at  large 
has  been  so  long  accustomed,  that  our  present 
figures  startle  us.  Single  members  of  our  church 
have  shown  themselves  able  to  give  more  than 
the  entire  amount  of  the  church's  contribution; 
and  I  have  no  idea  that  the  church  will  stop  with 
this  year's  giving,  having  tasted  the  supreme  joy 
of  gi^dng  in  scriptural  fashion.  We  have  not  yet 
known  the  full  flavor:  our  gifts  are  not  yet  at 
work,  securing  for  us  the  personal  interest  in  many 
fields  which  will  make  us  feel  that  we  are  not  only 
at  work  here  ourselves,  but  that  the  labor  of  our 
brains  and  hands  is  preaching  the  gospel  to  the 
heathen,  and  teaching  men,  women  and  children 
of  many  tongues  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever 
Christ  has  commanded  them,  that  while  we  may 
ourselves  work  for  but  ten  hours,  or  twelve,  in  the 


234  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 


day,  the  sun  never  sets  on  the  world-wide  work  of 
our  church.  And  I  feel  that  the  sweetest,  tender- 
est  element  of  our  joy  is  yet  to  come  through  the 
having  of  our  young  men  and  women,  who  have 
grown  up  among  us,  who  belong  to  the  families 
of  our  church  and  to  us,  as  our  representatives 
in  these  fields.  Not  a  few  have  already  volun- 
teered, as  you  know,  and  you  may  be  disposed  to 
cry,  'Enough:  we  can  spare  no  more!'  But  just 
as  surely  as  the  living  Christ  has  revealed  himself 
to  us,  so  surely  will  there  be  more  of  our  young 
people  who  will  say,  'Here  am  I,  Lord;  send  me.' 
While  it  would  not  require  more  than  one  in 
three  hundred  and  fifty  of  the  members  of  the 
entire  Church  to  give  the  gospel  to  the  unevan- 
gelized,  yet  so  Uttle  has  the  Church  at  large  seen 
the  vision  that  we  who  have  seen  it  must  do  what 
we  can  to  make  up  for  the  general  failure.  It 
should  be  regarded  as  a  duty  and  a  privilege,  in 
every  church,  continually  to  pray  and  labor  and 
expect  that  our  young  people  will  devote  them- 
selves to  the  meeting  of  the  world's  greatest  need, 
that  our  Lord  may  not  be  kept  waiting  another 
nineteen  hundred  years  before  the  earth  shall  be 
filled  with  the  knowledge  of  the  glory  of  God  as 
the  waters  cover  the  sea.  The  sacrifice  of  giving 
a  son  or  a  daughter  is  more  than  that  of  giving  a 
million  dollars;  but  the  pleasure  is  proportion- 
ately greater.  Ye  who  have  millions  to  give,  and 
give  them,  happy  are  ye;  ye  who  have  sons  and 
daughters  to  give,  and  do  not  withhold  them, 


WITH    YOU    ALWAYS  235 

happier  are  ye;  ye  who  can  and  do  give  both, 
who  shall  declare  the  bounds  of  the  happiness 
which  the  Lord  God  will  pour  into  your  bosoms  ? 
Only  do  it  not  for  the  sake  of  the  happiness,  but 
for  the  sake  of  him  who  loved  us  and  who  washed 
us  from  our  sins  in  his  own  blood,  to  whom  be 
glory  for  ever  and  ever.     Amen." 

This  is  by  no  means  all  that  the  pastor  said  to 
his  people  on  that  glad  thanksgiving  day.  He 
enumerated  the  largely  increased  gifts  to  the  other 
boards  of  the  church,  to  the  Bible  and  tract 
societies,  and  he  laid  great  emphasis  on  the 
thought  that  bountifulness  does  not  consist  in 
abundance,  but  in  the  spirit  of  self-den3dng  love. 
At  the  close  he  offered  a  prayer  of  thanksgiv- 
ing and  consecration,  joyfully  acknowledging  the 
Presence  which  had  given  the  victory,  and  unre- 
servedly presenting  the  church,  its  members, 
their  children,  their  means,  as  a  hving  sacrifice, 
holy  and  acceptable  unto  God,  a  spiritual  service. 
And  on  that  day  four  more  of  Westminster's 
young  people  announced  to  their  pastor  that  they 
had  said,  "Here  am  I,  Lord;  send  me."  Among 
them  was  Lena  Harden;  and  not  even  by  a  word 
would  her  father  say  her  nay. 

It  was  Henry  Austin's  idea  that  found  expres- 
sion in  a  httle  informal  organization  of  the  "West- 
minster Volunteers,"  which  came  into  being 
during  the  following  week.  It  soon  became  evi- 
dent that  the  mutual  interest  between  him  and 
Lena  Harden  was  more  than  a  passing  attraction, 


236  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

and  long  before  he  sailed  for  his  station  in  China, 
it  was  known  that  they  would  labor  together  in 
the  foreign  field,  though  Henry  would  go  in  ad- 
vance, for  a  start  on  the  language,  while  Lena 
finished  her  college  course.  Though  some  of  the 
''Volunteers"  sailed  that  year,  and  others  were 
to  wait  for  years  to  come,  yet  all  drew  together  in 
a  delightfulness  and  tenderness  of  fellowship  pos- 
sible only  to  those  whose  consecration  is  complete, 
and  whose  relations  to  one  another  form  but  the 
expansion  of  that  fellowship ^dth  the  Father  and 
with  his  Son  Jesus  Christ. 

As  for  John  Stanton  and  his  wife,  genuine  and 
keen  w^as  their  satisfaction  when  they  received 
word  that,  after  careful  consideration,  the  board 
had  decided  to  appoint  them  to  the  leadership  of 
the  Httle  band  who  would  go  out  that  year  to 
China,  to  gain  a  few  years  of  experience  at  one  of 
the  estabHshed  stations,  and  then  themselves 
open  up  a  "Westminster  Station"  among  China's 
milHons,  where  they  might  also  welcome  other 
recruits  from  the  volimteer  band.  They  had 
been  ready  for  any  decision,  either  to  remain  with 
their  more  than  ever  beloved  church,  to  undertake 
to  carry  the  Westminster  spirit  to  the  church  at 
home,  or  to  go  in  person  to  the  far-away  work; 
but,  both  as  a  proof  of  the  genuineness  of  their 
devotion,  and  because  of  the  fewness  of  the  la- 
borers, they  rejoiced  in  the  decision  that  they 
should  reHnquish  to  others  the  abundant  com- 
forts of  this  flourishing  parish  and  become  part 


WITH    YOU   ALWAYS  237 


of  the  little  company  who  would  accept  the 
modest  support,  the  sad  separations,  the  trials, 
perils  and  joys  of  the  foreign  missionary,  in  the 
assurance  that  the  Christ,  never  before  so  real, 
would  be  with  them  even  unto  the  end  of  the 
world. 

What  was  the  amazement  of  the  church  when 
they  heard  that  George  Quincy,  after  learning 
that  the  Stantons  were  going  to  China,  had  been 
quite  unable  to  get  away  from  the  impression 
that  some  man  from  Westminster  Church  must 
be  found  to  give  himself  to  the  passing  on  of  the 
Westminster  spirit.     After  much  deliberation  he 
had  written  to  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  offer- 
ing to  give  up  his  business,  and,  at  his  own  charges, 
become  a  traveling  exponent  of  the  Westminster 
idea.    His  offer  had  been  most  gratefully  accepted, 
and  in  a  few  months  he  expected  to  be  starting  on 
his  new  work.     Never  having  married,  the  lack  of 
home  ties  made  him  an  ideal  man  for  such  a  task. 
Missed  indeed  he  would  be  at  Westminster;   but 
there  were  many  others  coming  forward  to  fill  his 
place  there.     An  intimate  classmate  of  Mr.  Stan- 
ton,  who  had  caught   the   fire  from  him,   was 
called  as  his  successor  in  Westminster   pulpit, 
and  under  his  ministrations  the  church  went  on 
to  better  and  ever  better  things,  it  becoming  a 
thoroughly    understood    principle    that    no    one 
could  be  received  into  membership  in  the  church 
who  did  not  intelligently  recognize  his  duty  to 
contribute  regularly,  as  God  had  prospered  him, 


238  WITH    YOU    ALWAYS 

for  the  support  of  the  church  and  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  world,  as  one  of  the  indispensable 
evidences  of  genuine  conversion  and  true  accept- 
ance of  Jesus  Christ  as  Saviour  and  Master. 
From  Westminster  Church  volunteers  were 
never  lacking  for  the  local  mission  established  on 
Kendall  Street,  which  grew  into  a  flourishing 
church;  and  from  among  her  young  people  some 
offered  themselves  for  teaching  and  preaching  in 
the  home  mission  fields,  so  that,  looking  upon 
the  world  as  one  great  field,  the  particular  call  to 
be  determined  by  needs  and  adaptation  and  per- 
sonal circumstances,  the  whole  church  operated 
as  one  strong  army,  ready  to  endure  hardness, 
never  suffering  themselves  to  be  entangled  with 
the  affairs  of  this  life,  that  they  might  please  Him 
who  called  them  to  be  soldiers.  And  when  any 
new  ideal  of  consecration  presented  itself,  and 
faith  halted,  or  the  suggestion  was  raised  that  the 
church  was  doing  too  much,  the  one  determining 
question  was  always.  If  it  will  redound  yet  more 
to  the  glory  of  God,  why  not  ? 


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